Emerging Considerations for Diversity Education of South Asian American Students

Educatio

Smart, Responsible, and Upper Caste Only: Measuring Caste Attitudes through Large-Scale Analysis of Matrimonial Profiles

Discriminatory caste attitudes currently stigmatize millions of Indians, subjecting individuals to prejudice in all aspects of life. Governmental incentives and societal movements have attempted to counter these attitudes, yet accurate measurements of public opinions on caste are not yet available for understanding whether progress is being made. Here, we introduce a novel approach to measure public attitudes of caste through an indicator variable: openness to intercaste marriage. Using a massive dataset of over 313K profiles from a major Indian matrimonial site, we precisely quantify public attitudes, along with differences between generations and between Indian residents and diaspora. We show that younger generations are more open to intercaste marriage, yet attitudes are based on a complex function of social status beyond their own caste. In examining the desired qualities in a spouse, we find that individuals open to intercaste marriage are more individualistic in the qualities they desire, rather than favoring family-related qualities, which mirrors larger societal trends away from collectivism. Finally, we show that attitudes in diaspora are significantly less open, suggesting a bi-cultural model of integration. Our research provides the first empirical evidence identifying how various intersections of identity shape attitudes toward intercaste marriage in India and among the Indian diaspora in the US.Comment: 12 pages; Accepted to be published at ICWSM'1

Casteism amongst Punjabis in Britain

Despite clear evidence of caste-based discrimination, harassment and victimisation, Punjabis in Britain stand divided on identifying with the victims of casteism. In the context of legislative, religious and academic contestations on caste discrimination in Britain, this article argues for acknowledging casteism where it exists

Book Review: Christian Inculturation in India

A review of Christian Inculturation in India by Paul Collins

Caste and higher education: the Rohith Vemula case

Last month a 26 year old Dalit PhD student at the University of Hyderabad took his own life following an unjust indictment from the administration. Amal Shahid writes that despite a progressive constitution and policies to support lower caste access to higher education, the Rohith Vemula case highlights that even the students who do make it to university still face severe discrimination which seriously undermines their full and equal participation