Do scheduled caste and scheduled tribe women legislators mean lower gender-caste gaps in primary schooling in India?

ABSTRACT: Despite India's substantial investments in primary schooling, gaps in schooling persist across gender and caste-with scheduled caste and scheduled tribe (SC/ST) girls being particularly disadvantaged. The representation of SC/ST women in state legislatures may help to mitigate this disadvantage. Specifically, because of her intersecting gender and caste/tribe identities, a SC/ST woman legislator might maintain a strong sense of solidarity especially with SC/ST girls and women, and support legislative policies benefitting SC/ST girls. Consequently, for this reason, we expect that living in a district where SC/ST women represent in state legislatures in a higher proportion may increase SC/ST girls' primary school completion, progression and performance. We tested this hypothesis using distri

SUBMITTER: Halim N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5668905 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature