Dethrone royalty in academia

The argument that quotas dilute merit is seductive but flawed

HRD Minister Arjun Singh8217;s announcement on reservations in the IITs and IIMs to almost 50 per cent has set in motion a debate as inconclusive as it is heated. Amidst the cacophony of voices, it is important to ask the question 8212; how real is the problem for which reservations might be a solution? Or are they an instance of terrible policy born of populist politics?

To answer this, let us examine some common criticisms of reservations. The first, most often heard, is that reservations destroy merit 8212; images of incompetent doctors, useless engineers and inept lawyers are trotted out as a dire warning of what might happen once anything other than an examination is allowed to determine admissions. A second argument is that quotas do not reach the truly poor and instead are gobbled up by a creamy layer. Again there is no dearth of anecdotal evidence about SC/ST students who drive up to college in fancy cars. The third objection, made by a few, is that it is not necessarily reservations that are bad, but reservations based on caste 8212; that seats could be reserved for economically backward sections instead.

These are serious arguments and are so persistent because, to a large extent, they seem individually true. As a recent student from one of the IITs, in my personal experience, it is true that SC/ST students there are a few exceptions tend to have done much worse in the JEE. Within IIT, as well, many of them have low grade point averages. It is also true that students getting in through quotas are often from middle class families.

Yet hidden within these common observations is an inherent contradiction and one that hints at a real problem in our society. If the academic performance of students belonging to certain sections of our society the so-called backward castes remains poor, even though they are not economically badly off and even though they are a sub-set selected through intense competition for even the quota seats are very hard fought prizes, then surely there is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. The very fact that quota students are not being held back by economics alone, points to caste as a constraining factor.

Sadly it seems true that for certain groups in our society, some professions and institutions remain unwelcoming and difficult, not because of a lack of money, but due to deeper, more subtle biases. This is an entirely different problem from that of economic backwardness and it is this difference that lies at the heart of the rationale for reservations. In its essence, this is a problem similar to the low representation of girls in these institutions. Across caste lines, families provide more support to boys studying to get through hugely demanding entrance examinations. As a result women are a minority in many areas of study and often perform worse in examinations, not because they are less intelligent, but because they have a very different support structure.

Nor is this unique to India. Sociologists in the US have studied how societal pressures that surround African-American teenagers affect their career choices and performance. In Freakonomics, Steven Levitt points to the correlation between the performance and success of children, and the values and professions of their parents. Both these examples highlight the crucial role underlying social attitudes have on a child8217;s 8220;success8221;.

Reservations in our 8220;institutes of excellence8221; will not uplift India8217;s poor or those in the lower castes a thousand seats are a drop in the ocean. But they might lessen this artificial segregation. The argument that quotas dilute merit is seductive but flawed. Students benefiting from quotas are often middle class, with a reasonable school education. Also quota seats are fiercely contested and successful candidates are highly motivated. Unfortunately, grades and marks are strongly dependent on social and family backgrounds and attitudes and do not necessarily reflect inherent ability. American universities have a less demanding style of examination than IITs, yet some of the world8217;s best engineers and scientists emerge from them.

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Indeed, while a number of remarks are made about the poor performance of 8220;backward8221; castes, it is interesting to note that IIT students admitted from outside India also do badly in internal examinations. Unless we plan to argue that SC/ST students, US and French exchange students and Indian expatriates of different castes are all somehow intrinsically lacking in merit, it seems far more likely that students sometimes have lower grades, not because they have no ability, but because strong cultural and social differences still divide society. It is these differences that a policy of reservations seeks to address.

There remain serious questions about whether quotas are the best approach. But caste divisions cannot be confused with general economic poverty. We need comprehensive studies and clear indices to measure the effectiveness of quotas. However, as long as facts suggest an inherent class of royalty in India8217;s knowledge economy, we need to work towards change. That process is painful and tumultuous but it is neither unnecessary nor avoidable.

The writer is at Stanford University in the USanantsstanford.edu