Humanities are falling behind on the aspirations chart

Globally, higher-education is undergoing a quiet reorganisation. The change is structural and not abrupt, reflecting broader social and economic realignments that are redefining what societies consider to be ‘useful’ knowledge.

- DEEPANSHU MOHAN & GEETAALI MALHOTRA

Students enrolled in India’s higher education system increased 26.5% since 2014-15 to 4.33 crore, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education 2021-22. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for the 18-23 age group hit 28.4, the highest ever, and the number of female students surpassed 2.07 crore. However, there isa definite concentration of academic preference.

The Arts stream continues to have the highest percentage of undergraduate students (34.2%), followed by Science (14.8%) and Commerce (13.3%). However, there isa clear trend in postgraduate and professional education wherein engineering and technology now make up 11.8% of all undergraduate enrolment and nearly 25% of all doctoral students in PhD programmes.

A large portion of this change is being driven by private institutions, which currently make up 65.3% of all colleges in India. Their focus on revenue-linked academic programmes and placement outcomes has changed the aspirations of families and students alike. Even though they make up more than one-fifth of all institutions, government colleges, which historically supported the humanities through public subsidies, now only account for 34.8% of total enrolment.