Tracing the educational journey of Indian women across generations: A study of multigenerational education mobility in India

Abstract

This study investigates intergenerational mobility and socioeconomic disparities in women's education in India, utilizing data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) Wave 1. It uniquely examines three generations of women: the second generation (G2), aged 45–75, who reported on their own education, their mother's education (G1), and their daughter's education (G3). Despite India's economic growth over the past three decades, women's educational status remains poor, influenced by enduring gender discrimination. The study constructs educational transition matrices and measures two mobility indices: M1, which represents the expected proportion of daughters transitioning from their mother's educational level, and M2, which measures the extent of transitions between educational categories. M1 is further broken down into upward and downward mobility. The findings highlight significant progress in educational mobility across generations, with notable increases in upward mobility from the grandmother-mother to the mother-daughter generations, indicating a positive trend. Urban women show significantly higher levels of educational mobility compared to their rural counterparts. However, the study also identifies a decline in multigenerational educational mobility among Muslim women. Persistent caste-based disparities in education are observed, although there is a promising trend of narrowing gaps in recent years. Additionally, the study reveals substantial progress in educational attainment among the most economically disadvantaged groups compared to previous generations.