TRANSITIONS IN OCCUPATIONAL & EDUCATIONAL MOBILITY, AND ASSOCIATED DYNAMICS IN INDIA

Abstract

The available Indian economic literature appears to have limited exposure to and understanding of the issues related to the process of development in opportunities across different sub-groups of population to grow and thrive economically and intellectually in order to improve their living standard or the class status in society over generation. This study is one of the modest efforts in this direction. Acknowledging certain limitations of the data, this study has attempted to examine the trend and pattern of occupational and educational mobility with other associated aspects in India during 1983-2010. The issue of mobility research in India is at infancy, and thus, the findings of this study, which deals with a range of aspects of occupational and educational status of population, may provide an insight into current status and scope for future research. This study examines the transitions in the pattern of occupational structure and level of educational attainment among sub-groups of Indian population over past 27 years i.e., 1983 to 2009-10. The study also analyzes the pattern and magnitude of intergenerational occupational and educational mobility among various socio-religious groups and by regions in India with other covariates’ effects, and changes therein over the period of time. Further, the inequality of opportunities among children of different social background has also been examined in order to find their access up to elementary level of education at appropriate ages during 1986-87 to 2007-08. This study used six quinquennial survey data sets of National Sample Survey (NSS) on “Employment and Unemployment”, with the survey period varying from 1983 to 2009-10. Besides, three rounds of special surveys conducted by NSS on “Participation in Education” ranging from 1986-87 to 2007-08 were utilised to explore education related dynamics. The study used the NCO codes to classify the occupational status in hierarchical order (3 groups) under each main group (sector) of occupation, i.e. Services, Industry, and Agriculture. The NIC codes were used to classify the group of occupation in each sector of economy. In the first approach, the occupational structure of the population aged 16-65, not attending any educational institution was assessed using the newly constructed occupational classification across selected socio-demographic and religious groups, and regions over the survey period ii (1983 to 2009-10). Similar assessment was done in case of educational structure of the population following the same criteria. Pooled multivariate regression models were applied to evaluate the adjusted probabilities of the sampled population lying in particular group of occupational or educational status. Second, the approach to examine the intergenerational mobility in both occupational and educational status was realized comparing the occupational and educational status of male children/grandchildren in the household to that of the male household head (with reference to whom relationship of other family members was determined). Further, in order to insure further upward intergenerational mobility, it was acknowledged that the assessment of opportunity enjoyed by the population, especially the children in terms of adequate educational access was essential. Hence, this study examined the opportunity available to children of different social backgrounds (or circumstance groups) to attend appropriate class at appropriate age up to elementary (I-VIII) level education during 1986-2008. For this purpose, the Human Opportunity Index (HOI) was constructed by circumstance groups, and by state (and region) over period. The index was decomposed further to assess the changes in opportunities owing to change in population composition (related to specific circumstance group) or the change in coverage of or access to defined educational criterion. The overall trend shows that the engagement of population in agricultural occupations declined with gradual and steady increase in the industrial and services occupations. In all the sub-groups of population, the probability of population’s engagement in grade-3 occupations in Agriculture sector tend to decline, while in grade-2 and grade-1 occupations, it appeared to have increased. The grade-2 and grade-1 occupations in Industry and Services sectors being highly skill and education intensive (mainly technical skills), were limited to a few eligible groups of population. On the other hand, the grade-3 occupations in these sectors have been engaging an increasing proportion of population from all sections of the society since mid-1990s. The analysis shows that almost four-fifth of the working age population in India has been occupationally immobile across generation during 1983-2010. There appeared a strong role of parental education, especially father’s education strengthening the likelihood of an individual experiencing upward occupational mobility. In Indian context, one’s own educational status did not appear the dominant factor in determining individual’s upward occupational mobility over generation. iii With the increasing probability of working age population possessing primary and higher level of education, the possibility of getting more skilled work force in the economy has increased substantially with the passage of last 27 years. Unlike the intergenerational occupational mobility, the result suggests that the probability of upward educational mobility in Indian population has been steady and progressive over the period. During 2009-10, more than three-fifth (67%) of Indian population experienced upward educational mobility. The factors which determine the continuous progression of children up to elementary level education during the period 1986-2008 were examined and it was found that gender, parental education, social group, household size, provision of mid-day meal in school, annual expenditure on education, and region of residence were significantly explaining the differences in outcome. Further, it was observed that during 2007-08, there were considerable variations in children’s opportunities in attending up to elementary level education in continuous progression by the level of parental education, especially mother’s education, and across regions of residence. However, the variations in children’s opportunities based on gender, caste (social group), and economic status were appeared waning by the period 2007-08. The mismatch between the occupational and educational mobility draws attention towards the possibility of educational wastage in order to earn the livelihoods among majority of Indian population, and thus, suggesting to reorient the education system as per the market demand, sustainability, and equilibrium in all spheres of science and knowledge. The country needs immediate deliverance from the persisting disparities in the society. The instant focus must be laid on the universal provision of educational facilities, especially for women, irrespective of castes, creeds, religion, region etc. The impact of mother’s education in educational and occupational progress of individual is immense. The career information and vocational guidance should be imparted among students at post-school level. To mitigate the stagnancy in the occupational mobility, especially in regions (such as East and Northeast regions) where the agricultural activities are predominant, there is need to diversify the agricultural and allied activities. Besides all such approaches to promote self-employment, entrepreneurship, and quality education, the effective approach to implement all the ongoing public programmes must be the priority of government and concerned officials, while the support of the citizenry is also required