The paradox of solidarity in higher education: Caste, gender, and the affirmative action conundrum

This study investigates the contradictions in how non-SC/ST female students, who benefit from gender-based affirmative action (AA), respond to similar policies for SC/ST students in Maharashtra’s private higher education sector. Drawing on a mixed-methods design, we combine survey and interview data from students in private engineering and management institutions to examine how merit, fairness, and deservingness are negotiated within discourses of inclusion. While our regression analysis did not find strong attitudinal predictors of resistance, qualitative narratives reveal a recurring tension: students support gender-based AA but resist caste-based AA, often invoking perceptions of overextension, SC/ST economic advantage, and meritocratic ideals. Financial anxiety was not a statistically significant driver of resistance, but respondents frequently framed their struggles in contrast to the perceived benefits enjoyed by SC/ST peers. This perceived imbalance, rooted more in cultural narratives than structural knowledge, shapes opposition to redistributive policy. Through a critical reading of intersectionality theory, the study shows that solidarity across marginal identities is not automatic. Instead, resistance emerges through strategic identity constructions in which caste disadvantage is downplayed and economic vulnerability is emphasized. The preference for AA based on income criteria reflects a broader ideological shift: from reparative justice toward individualized fairness. By tracing the discursive and institutional conditions under which resistance takes shape, this study offers a layered understanding of how caste, class, and gender intersect in the reproduction of educational inequality.