Educational and occupational status and intergenerational mobility among muslim and non-muslim women in Kerala :a comparative analysis

Abstract

The present study focuses on Muslim women’s educational attainment, employment, and occupational status, as well as intergenerational educational and occupational mobility, in comparison with non-Muslim women in Kerala. The study collected data from 704 women aged 25 to 54 years using multistage stratified random sampling from the Muslim and non-Muslim communities across the three districts of Kerala: Malappuram, Ernakulam, and Kollam. Statistical tools such as Chi-square tests, transition matrices, Bartholomew Index, Direction-sensitive indices, Blinder-Oaxaca index, OLS regression, Multinomial regression analysis are used to analyse these objectives. There are four main objectives for the present study: First, to assess and compare the current educational attainment of Muslim and non-Muslim women in Kerala. Within these objectives, the study aims to analyse the relative educational attainment of Muslim and non-Muslim women, the incidence of educational discontinuity, the reasons for discontinuity, and the challenges both groups face in pursuing education. Based on the first objective, the study showed that women in Kerala have achieved moderate to high levels of educational attainment overall. However, consistent disparities persist between Muslim and non-Muslim women, as Muslim women report fewer years of schooling, are underrepresented in higher education, and face higher risks of discontinuity. Early marriage or family responsibilities are the most important reasons for Muslim women, and financial constraints are the most important reasons for non-Muslim women for educational discontinuity. The second objective is to evaluate the current employment status and occupational structure of Muslim women in comparison to their non-Muslim counterparts. This objective includes employment status, occupational structure, as well as reasons for employment and unemployment of Muslim and non-Muslim women in Kerala. The analysis of employment and occupational status shows that Muslim and non-Muslim women in Kerala have broadly comparable levels of labour market engagement. Both groups demonstrate moderate participation, with large proportions either in full-time work or homemaking, and smaller segments engaged in part-time or self-employment. Occupational structures also reveal similarity,with most employed women concentrated in professional and respected roles such as teaching, healthcare, and skilled self-employment, and very limited representation in higher-prestige entrepreneurial positions. Although motivations and barriers to employment differ, Muslim women more often cite family encouragement, social expectations, and childcare, and non-Muslim women emphasise economic necessity and lack of job opportunities, the overall distribution of employment and occupational outcomes does not significantly differ between the groups. The third objective of the study is to analyse the extent, patterns, and determinants of inter generational educational mobility among Muslim and non-Muslim women in Kerala. This objective describes mobility patterns using transition matrices, computes summary mobility indices, estimates regression models of inter generational schooling transmission, decomposes Muslim-non-Muslim differences in daughters' schooling into endowments and structural components, and analyses the intensity, absolute gains, and subjective analysis of educational mobility. Based on the third objective the study showed that women in both communities have experienced substantial absolute upward educational mobility relative to their mothers, particularly among women whose mothers had very little or no schooling. But this upward movement was not equally distributed. Muslim women recorded larger upward mobility than non- muslim women. This upward movement reflected from the lower maternal education baseline of Muslim households. At the same time, non-Muslim women showed higher absolute levels of educational attainment in both generations and were more strongly clustered in the highest schooling categories. Thus, when mobility was measured in relative or incremental terms, Muslims represent higher; when measured in absolute attainment, non-Muslims continued to hold the advantage Fourth objective of the study presents the foundational evidence through intergenerational occupational transition matrices and associated tests of persistence, summarises the composition of directional mobility (downward, immobile, upward), employs summary mobility indices to quantify the magnitude and net direction of occupational mobility, examines the distribution of the occupational step-difference (OSD) by religious group, models the determinants of mobility, analysing both direction (via multinomial logistic regression) and magnitude (via ordinary least squares regression) and explores the subjective dimension through an assessment of perceived intergenerational occupational mobility. Based on the fourth objective study found that immobility remains the most common feature among both religious groups. Among those who do experience mobility, upward occupational movement is marked more common than downward movement. Muslim women represent longer upward trend than non-Muslim women. Non-Muslim women, meanwhile, show a more dispersed distribution, with slightly more downward steps alongside small-to-moderate upward movements. The differences between groups are statistically significant but substantively small, indicating broadly similar mobility regimes with subtle differences in the distribution of gains. The study provides valuable insights for implementing appropriate policy decision to uplift Muslim women in terms of educational and occupational attainment as well as improving their intergeneration mobility.