Education isn’t always the solution in poor countries, new research says

As western nations move their back-shop operations to India, the country has become known as the help desk for the world, but there’s an underside to all the growth: educated workers who can’t find jobs.

Millions of young people in India, particularly young men, are discovering that education, either in high school or college, doesn’t necessarily mean better lives. They cannot find jobs commensurate with their schooling, found Craig Jeffrey, a geography and international studies professor at the University of Washington; and Patricia and Roger Jeffery, sociologists at the University of Edinburgh. (The Jefferys are husband-and-wife but not related to Jeffrey.)

This frustration about jobs is leading to a growing class of desperate, possibly volatile young citizens, the researchers say. They lay out the problems in a new book: "Degrees Without Freedom? Education, Masculinities and Unemployment in Northern India" (Stanford University Press, $20.95).

Catherine O’Donnell [email protected]

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