Khud hi action lena padega : the everyday work of arriving and sustaining by ngo-supported students on scholarship at a private liberal arts university

Abstract

Post-liberalisation in India, the number of colleges providing high-fee tertiary education has increased, and these are setting the new standards of education and employability in the country. First-generation students access private liberal arts colleges through NGO support, and as a result, NGOs are increasingly becoming important actors in the higher education landscape in India. In education literature, it is well established that access cannot be seen as an end in itselfmuch more is needed at an institutional level to make higher education truly inclusive. Yet, how non-elite students navigate their experience in these high-fee university spaces and what support is provided or not provided by institutions has not been studied. This thesis analyses semi-structured interviews conducted with six students who have accessed a private liberal arts university through an NGO-supported scholarship scheme. The analysis explores how students from non-traditional caste and class backgrounds navigate their learning by relying on themselves to meet predefined notions of merit and engagement, while also negotiating with and the feelings about the NGO and university to continue receiving their support. It focuses on the affective experience of shame and fear associated with using English, the modalities of ‘responsibilism’, and gratitude as the dominant mode of articulation. Specific strategies include practising spoken English in private, meeting professors privately and cultivating ‘purposeful’ friendships.