IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecoedu/v99y2024ics0272775724000013.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social identity and learning: Adult literacy program in India

Author

Listed:
  • Bhardwaj, Sakshi
  • Shonchoy, Abu S.

Abstract

The paper examines the effect of social identity on adult learning within a hierarchical social setting— an important yet often understudied issue for effective adult education. We leverage the random matching of students and teachers from a randomized controlled experiment in India, where illiterate adult female learners aged 18–45 were randomly assigned to a literacy program. We find a positive and significant impact of matching an upper caste teacher with a lower caste adult student on literacy scores. We also find suggestive evidence of an increase in students' confidence measures when matched with an upper caste teacher, indicating a plausible impact mechanism. Our findings highlight the need for future research on social identity and its influence on adult learning, particularly in countries with existing deep-rooted hierarchical social constructs.

Suggested Citation

  • Bhardwaj, Sakshi & Shonchoy, Abu S., 2024. "Social identity and learning: Adult literacy program in India," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:99:y:2024:i:c:s0272775724000013
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2024.102507
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775724000013
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econedurev.2024.102507?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deshpande, Ashwini & Desrochers, Alain & Ksoll, Christopher & Shonchoy, Abu S., 2017. "The Impact of a Computer-based Adult Literacy Program on Literacy and Numeracy: Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 451-473.
    2. Thomas S. Dee, 2004. "Teachers, Race, and Student Achievement in a Randomized Experiment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 195-210, February.
    3. Miriam Bruhn & David McKenzie, 2009. "In Pursuit of Balance: Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(4), pages 200-232, October.
    4. Jaegeum Lim & Jonathan Meer, 2017. "The Impact of Teacher–Student Gender Matches: Random Assignment Evidence from South Korea," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(4), pages 979-997.
    5. Helen Abadzi, 2003. "Improving Adult Literacy Outcomes : Lessons from Cognitive Research for Developing Countries," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15136.
    6. Harris Selod & Yves Zenou, 2006. "City Structure, Job Search and Labour Discrimination: Theory and Policy Implications," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(514), pages 1057-1087, October.
    7. Scott E. Carrell & Marianne E. Page & James E. West, 2010. "Sex and Science: How Professor Gender Perpetuates the Gender Gap," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(3), pages 1101-1144.
    8. Seth Gershenson & Cassandra M. D. Hart & Joshua Hyman & Constance A. Lindsay & Nicholas W. Papageorge, 2022. "The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 300-342, November.
    9. Joshua D. Angrist & Kevin Lang, 2004. "Does School Integration Generate Peer Effects? Evidence from Boston's Metco Program," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1613-1634, December.
    10. Jean Drèze & Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, 2001. "School Participation in Rural India," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(1), pages 1-24, February.
    11. Elizabeth Oltmans Ananat, 2011. "The Wrong Side(s) of the Tracks: The Causal Effects of Racial Segregation on Urban Poverty and Inequality," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 34-66, April.
    12. Harminder Battu & McDonald Mwale & Yves Zenou, 2007. "Oppositional identities and the labor market," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 20(3), pages 643-667, July.
    13. Amine Ouazad, 2014. "Assessed by a Teacher Like Me: Race and Teacher Assessments," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(3), pages 334-372, July.
    14. Harminder Battu & Yves Zenou, 2010. "Oppositional Identities and Employment for Ethnic Minorities: Evidence from England," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(542), pages 52-71, February.
    15. Jansson, Joakim & Tyrefors, Björn, 2018. "Gender Grading Bias at Stockholm University: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from an Anonymous Grading Reform," Working Paper Series 1226, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    16. George A. Akerlof, 1997. "Social Distance and Social Decisions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(5), pages 1005-1028, September.
    17. Viktoria Hnatkovska & Amartya Lahiri & Sourabh Paul, 2012. "Castes and Labor Mobility," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 274-307, April.
    18. Niels-Hugo Blunch, 2017. "Adult literacy programs in developing countries," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 374-374, July.
    19. George A. Akerlof & Rachel E. Kranton, 2000. "Economics and Identity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(3), pages 715-753.
    20. Lavy, Victor & Sand, Edith, 2018. "On the origins of gender gaps in human capital: Short- and long-term consequences of teachers' biases," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 263-279.
    21. Vani Borooah & Sriya Iyer, 2005. "Vidya, Veda, and Varna: The influence of religion and caste on education in rural India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(8), pages 1369-1404.
    22. Jaegeum Lim & Jonathan Meer, 2020. "Persistent Effects of Teacher–Student Gender Matches," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(3), pages 809-835.
    23. Heather Antecol & Ozkan Eren & Serkan Ozbeklik, 2015. "The Effect of Teacher Gender on Student Achievement in Primary School," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(1), pages 63-89.
    24. Sergio Currarini & Matthew O. Jackson & Paolo Pin, 2009. "An Economic Model of Friendship: Homophily, Minorities, and Segregation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(4), pages 1003-1045, July.
    25. Naureen Karachiwalla, 2019. "A Teacher Unlike Me: Social Distance, Learning, and Intergenerational Mobility in Developing Countries," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 67(2), pages 225-271.
    26. Karthik Muralidharan & Ketki Sheth, 2016. "Bridging Education Gender Gaps in Developing Countries: The Role of Female Teachers," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 51(2), pages 269-297.
    27. Dostie, Benoit & Jayaraman, Rajshri, 2006. "Determinants of School Enrollment in Indian Villages," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(2), pages 405-421, January.
    28. Charles T. Clotfelter & Helen F. Ladd & Jacob L. Vigdor, 2010. "Teacher Credentials and Student Achievement in High School: A Cross-Subject Analysis with Student Fixed Effects," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(3).
    29. George A. Akerlof & Rachel E. Kranton, 2005. "Identity and the Economics of Organizations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 9-32, Winter.
    30. Federico Echenique & Roland G. Fryer, 2007. "A Measure of Segregation Based on Social Interactions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 441-485.
    31. David M. Cutler & Edward L. Glaeser, 1997. "Are Ghettos Good or Bad?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(3), pages 827-872.
    32. Sweta Gupta & Christopher Ksoll & Annemie Maertens, 2021. "Intra-household Efficiency in Extended Family Households: Evidence from Rural India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(7), pages 1172-1197, July.
    33. Niels-Hugo Blunch & Claus C. Pörtner, 2011. "Literacy, Skills, and Welfare: Effects of Participation in Adult Literacy Programs," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(1), pages 17-66.
    34. Thomas S. Dee, 2005. "A Teacher Like Me: Does Race, Ethnicity, or Gender Matter?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 158-165, May.
    35. Anne C. Case & Lawrence F. Katz, 1991. "The Company You Keep: The Effects of Family and Neighborhood on Disadvantaged Youths," NBER Working Papers 3705, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    36. Holt, Stephen B. & Papageorge, Nicholas W., 2016. "Who believes in me? The effect of student–teacher demographic match on teacher expectationsAuthor-Name: Gershenson, Seth," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 209-224.
    37. Christiana Hilmer & Michael Hilmer, 2007. "Women Helping Women, Men Helping Women? Same-Gender Mentoring, Initial Job Placements, and Early Career Publishing Success for Economics PhDs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(2), pages 422-426, May.
    38. Clotfelter, Charles T. & Ladd, Helen F. & Vigdor, Jacob L., 2007. "Teacher credentials and student achievement: Longitudinal analysis with student fixed effects," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 673-682, December.
    39. Zenou, Yves & De Martí, Joan, 2009. "Ethnic Identity and Social Distance in Friendship Formation," CEPR Discussion Papers 7566, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    40. George Akerlof, 1976. "The Economics of Caste and of the Rat Race and Other Woeful Tales," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 90(4), pages 599-617.
    41. Angelo Mele, 2020. "Does School Desegregation Promote Diverse Interactions? An Equilibrium Model of Segregation within Schools," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 228-257, May.
    42. Egalite, Anna J. & Kisida, Brian & Winters, Marcus A., 2015. "Representation in the classroom: The effect of own-race teachers on student achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 44-52.
    43. Ashwini Deshpande & Christopher Ksoll & Annemie Maertens & Vinitha Varghese, 2023. "The Impact of an Adult Education Program for Mothers: Evidence from India," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(2), pages 709-751.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Eble, Alex & Hu, Feng, 2020. "Child beliefs, societal beliefs, and teacher-student identity match," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    2. Kelvin K. C. Seah, 2021. "Do you speak my language? The effect of sharing a teacher's native language on student achievement," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(1), pages 245-273, July.
    3. Delhommer, Scott, 2022. "High school role models and minority college achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    4. Gershenson, Seth & Holt, Stephen B. & Papageorge, Nicholas W., 2015. "Who Believes in Me? The Effect of Student-Teacher Demographic Match on Teacher Expectations," IZA Discussion Papers 9202, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Bohdana Kurylo, 2021. "The Impact of Same-Race Teachers on Student Behavioral Outcomes," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp695, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    6. Oliver, Daniel & Fairlie, Robert & Millhauser, Glenn & Roland, Randa, 2021. "Minority student and teaching assistant interactions in STEM," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    7. Nick Drydakis, 2013. "The effect of ethnic identity on the employment of immigrants," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 285-308, June.
    8. Hill, Andrew J. & Jones, Daniel B., 2018. "A teacher who knows me: The academic benefits of repeat student-teacher matches," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-12.
    9. Dev, Pritha & Mberu, Blessing & Pongou, Roland, 2013. "Communitarianism, Oppositional Cultures, and Human Capital Contagion: Theory and Evidence from Formal versus Koranic Education," MPRA Paper 46234, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Apr 2013.
    10. Goulas, Sofoklis & Gunawardena, Bhagya N. & Megalokonomou, Rigissa & Zenou, Yves, 2024. "Gender Role Models in Education," IZA Discussion Papers 17271, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Zenou, Yves & De Martí, Joan, 2009. "Ethnic Identity and Social Distance in Friendship Formation," CEPR Discussion Papers 7566, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Harbatkin, Erica, 2021. "Does student-teacher race match affect course grades?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    13. Jaegeum Lim & Jonathan Meer, 2020. "Persistent Effects of Teacher–Student Gender Matches," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(3), pages 809-835.
    14. Alberto Bisin & Eleonora Patacchini & Thierry Verdier & Yves Zenou, 2011. "Ethnic identity and labour market outcomes of immigrants in Europe [Assessing the oppositional culture explanation for racial/ethnic differences in school performance]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 26(65), pages 57-92.
    15. Battu, Harminder & Seaman, Paul & Zenou, Yves, 2011. "Job contact networks and the ethnic minorities," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 48-56, January.
    16. Aker, Jenny C. & Sawyer, Melita & Berry, James, 2024. "Making sense of the shapes: What do we know about literacy learning in adulthood?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    17. Calvano, Emilio & Immordino, Giovanni & Scognamiglio, Annalisa, 2022. "What drives segregation? Evidence from social interactions among students," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    18. Campbell, Stuart & Nuevo-Chiquero, Ana & Popli, Gurleen & Ratcliffe, Anita, 2019. "Parental Ethnic Identity and Child Development," IZA Discussion Papers 12104, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Chris Birdsall & Seth Gershenson & Raymond Zuniga, 2020. "The Effects of Demographic Mismatch in an Elite Professional School Setting," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(3), pages 457-486, Summer.
    20. Stuart Campbell, 2019. "National identity among economic and non-economic immigrants," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 411-438, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Adult education; Social identity; India; Caste;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:99:y:2024:i:c:s0272775724000013. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/econedurev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.