Gender Differentials in Inequality of Educational Opportunities: New Evidence from an Indian Youth Study

Using data from the ‘Youth in India: Situation and Needs’ survey, this article provides perhaps the first estimates of inequality of opportunity in schooling outcomes for males and females separately for six Indian states. The inequality of educational opportunity in completion of primary (and secondary) schooling among females is more than twice (and nearly twice) that among males. Further, among females, only 20 per cent of total schooling opportunities needed for universal completion of secondary schooling are available and equitably distributed, a figure substantially lower than that for males (35 per cent). We also find stark inter-state variations in gender differential in inequality of educational opportunities.