Aim: Higher education has experienced major changes in last few decades in India in terms of its expansion, content and reach. Massification of higher education has increased access to education and people belonging to different social backgrounds are getting enrolled in higher education. A pertinent question that emerges here is: what kind of relationship exists between the background characteristics of people and the levels and types of higher education they attain? This descriptive study provides a comprehensive answer. Method: This empirical work is conducted in Srinagar city of India. It covered 704 respondents belonging to 245 households. Survey method was used for collecting primary data and structured interviews were conducted by making use of interview-schedule. Results: This study finds that higher education in Srinagar is readily available for many but such availability is embedded within constraints related to gender, age, occupation and education of parents and caste related identities. People coming from different social backgrounds acquire different types and levels of higher education. It creates hierarchy among and within academic courses of higher education and inequalities among the groups. Conclusion: Higher education reflects as well as promotes social inequalities in contemporary context and thus the egalitarian goals of higher education are getting compromised. There is need to bring change in the courses and contents of higher education so that it can address to dynamic needs of people coming from different backgrounds. Education needs to become a vehicle for liberation and social transformation and should not remain a mere agency of social reproduction. Key words: social background; courses within higher education; higher education in different contexts; gender; caste; parent’s background; descriptive study.

中文翻译：

---

印度接受高等教育的个人的背景特征：斯利那加市的社会学研究

目的：在过去的几十年中，印度高等教育在规模，内容和覆盖范围方面都发生了重大变化。高等教育的大众化增加了受教育的机会，属于不同社会背景的人们正在接受高等教育。这里出现的一个相关问题是：人们的背景特征与他们所接受的高等教育的水平和类型之间存在什么样的关系？这项描述性研究提供了全面的答案。方法：这项实证工作是在印度斯利那加市进行的。它涵盖了245个家庭的704位受访者。使用调查方法收集原始数据，并通过访谈计划表进行结构化访谈。结果：这项研究发现，斯利那加的高等教育对许多人来说都是随时可用的，但是这种可用性被嵌入到与性别，年龄，职业和父母的教育程度以及种姓相关身份有关的限制中。来自不同社会背景的人们获得不同类型和水平的高等教育。它在高等教育的学术课程之中和之内建立了等级制度，在群体之间造成了不平等。结论：高等教育在当代背景下反映并促进了社会不平等，因此高等教育的均等目标正在受到损害。有必要对高等教育的课程和内容进行变革，以适应来自不同背景的人们的动态需求。教育必须成为解放和社会转型的手段，而不应仅是社会再生产的媒介。关键字：社会背景；高等教育课程；不同背景下的高等教育；性别; 种姓 父母的背景；描述性研究。