A space to explore, share and shape the issues facing social and behavioral scientists
India presents a rich context for research on work and employment, epitomizing the paradox of being the world’s fifth-biggest economy but one where 92.4 percent of the workforce is informal – insecure, unprotected, poor – and women and disadvantaged groups most vulnerable.
The COVID pandemic has affected teaching in India as it has everywhere. Applying a sociological lens to the Indian experience of teaching sociology itself is instructive.
The Indian University Grants Commission (UGC) has introduced a number of policies aimed at addressing issues around the robustness and quality of Indian research. One focus of these policies has been the introduction of mandatory publishing ethics training for Indian PhD students aimed at reducing unethical or predatory research and publishing practices. In this blogpost, Santosh C. Hulagabali, reflects on the successful development of this course in his own institution and how ethical training may influence scholarly communication more broadly in India.
The only way out of the current state of tension for Indian universities, argues political scientists Aftab Alam, is for the institutions to learn to tolerate everything except intolerance.
UPDATE: Two Indian social scientists are among 10 people charged with murder in an Indian state wracked by an ongoing insurgency by Maoist rebels that the academics were actively studying. Almost 200 Indian sociologists are protesting the arrest.
If the public institution is committed to public interest, then privatization of research and teaching cannot be allowed. Work done should be seen, heard and critiqued. Innovation in knowledge can come when people take away ideas from us, just as we did. Research should be made public, accountable and responsible. The data commons in public interest cannot be sacrificed at the altar of intellectual autonomy.
Stories have always captured the imagination of man. Be it timeless epics, like the Mahabharata and Ramayana, or more recent […]
Universities around the world are impacted by narrow definitions of world-class education, but a just-concluded trip o India reminded our Michelle Stack that institutions individually and through international collaborations can and do make choices that mitigate or increase inequity.
Setting up a business is the outcome of a long series of intricate choices. It is the process rather than […]
Young women are at a higher risk of poor birth outcomes. Studies have found increased risk of preterm delivery, intrauterine […]
The Indian government’s new regulations for higher education not only are not helping education and students, argues Vishwesha Guttal, they are jeopardizing future excellence.
Recently, concern about the environment has become a crucial public issue. Increasing governmental regulations, intensifying consumer environmentalism and growing pressure […]
