Education and Occupational Attainment: The Indian Paradox

Sonalde Desai, University of Maryland
Maitreyi B. Das, World Bank Group

This paper examines the impact of education of occupational position of Indian men and women aged 30-50. By using National Sample Survey data from 1983, 1987-88 and 1993-1994, we show that the link between education and ability to obtain professional/administrative positions or even clerical/manufacturing positions has weakened over time, just as school enrollments have been growing. This suggests that increasingly, while higher education is a necessary condition for middle class jobs, it is not a sufficient condition. These results cast doubt on investments in education as an important route for economic development as well as suggest some interesting directions in research on social stratification in developing countries.