Does the Intersectionality of Location, Gender and Social or Religious Identities of Population in India Affect Their Post-secondary Education Participation?

This paper examines the socio-religious and gender identities along with their location (rural–urban) of college-age and their post-secondary education participation in India. Disparities across mutually exclusive population groups based on these identity axes and the intersection of them are examined through the intersectionality framework. The analysis is made using unit record data of the fifth Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS-5) 2021–22, a national-level large-scale household survey. Certain population groups are disadvantaged and hence lagging in participating in post-secondary education. The intersection of multiple identity axes (gender, location, caste, religion, economic class) of the population is furthering such a disadvantage.