Caste Identities and Emotional Violence in Universities: A Socio-psychological Perspective

Abstract

This commentary investigates the student dropouts and suicides in higher education institutes (HEIs) with a socio-psychological perspective. It builds upon the data on dropouts revealed by the Ministry of Higher Education, and it uses psychological safety as a concept to argue that student suicides and increased dropout rates for Dalit students are due to low psychological safety and institutional bias. It traces the structural continuation of caste and emotional violence in HEIs. The commentary uses critical realism as a perspective, noting the caste in its social and psychological domain causes real effects in the form of dropouts and suicides. Lastly, the article suggests a positive reconstruction of individual identities utilizing Buddhism.