Higher Education among Warli Tribe Girls of Maharashtra: Perceptions and Barriers

Within the framework of evolving democratic governance and the aspiration for a fair and equitable societal structure, the framers of the constitution were keenly aware of India’s hierarchical societal framework, the accumulated hardships faced by tribal communities, and the communal fabric of their social connections. To mitigate these disparities, education was perceived as a vehicle for societal transformation, individual advancement, and the pursuit of social parity across all societal segments through social justice, integration, and mainstreaming. Across such societal segments, tribal communities also needed integration into the mainstream, which strongly required measures ensuring social justice and equality in terms of perceiving education. In light of this, the paper seeks to address the causes of systemic exclusion of Warli tribal girls in higher education. In addressing such a systemic exclusion of Warli tribe girls, the second objective of the study seeks to investigate the external factors such as lack of opportunities, infrastructure, and low inclusion of culture milieu in the educational text or certain internal factors such as traditional gender roles, marriage practices and other culturally attested practices which sets the scene for systemic exclusion in the higher education system. In identifying the causes of such exclusion, a third objective of the study is to understand the unique cultural and societal factors at play, linking to higher educational aspirations among girls while unraveling the dilemmas of perception and barriers of higher education in the community. This includes traditional gender roles and expectations as well as the influence of social norms and practices, which in a way seek to explore the perceptions of availing higher education in the Warli community within the cusp of cultural and societal norms. While shedding light on the unique socio-cultural factors at play, the fourth objective of the research seeks to inform targeted interventions that can help empower Warli girls to pursue educational opportunities and break the cycle of poverty and inequality so that a more inclusive and supportive academic environment could be established. The paper is based on primary qualitative data collected from the Warli community of Thane and Palghar districts of Maharashtra. The conversation analysis method and shadowing method are used as analysis methods to emphasize the depth of the qualitative data. Theoretical tools of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s - Bioecological Model of Human Development and Social-Cognition Theory are used to understand the dynamics of perception and barriers of higher education. The findings of the study suggest that there is a complex interplay of cultural, social, and economic factors contributing to the systemic exclusion of Warli tribe girls from higher education. Internally, those girls who manage to pursue higher education recognize both the intrinsic and instrumental values of education - seeing it as a means of self-actualization and a pathway to economic mobility. However, traditional gender roles, early marriage, financial constraints, limited awareness, and language barriers persist as significant challenges.