Building the Self: Examining Disparities in Identity between Muslim and Hindu Girls in Higher Education

Abstract

This study investigated the self-concept structure of three groups: Hindu girls in higher education, Muslim dropout girls, and Muslim girls in higher education. There were 214 participants from the Allahabad district in the sample. Social identity, ideological beliefs, interests, ambitions, and self-evaluations are the five main categories and their corresponding subcategories (e.g., self-identity, group identity, gender role identity) of the Twenty Statement Test (TST), which was used to measure self-concept. The results show that self-concept is significantly shaped by schooling. Self-evaluation and social identification received the most answers from girls pursuing higher education, both Muslim and Hindu. While dropout females were more likely to highlight physical traits, educated girls were likelier to cite generic expressions of self-worth. While Muslim girls in higher education had both good and negative psychological states, Hindu girls in higher education placed more emphasis on psychological traits. Furthermore, Muslim dropout girls placed more emphasis on personal interests, while Muslim females in higher education showed stronger ambition-related self-descriptions. Overall, the findings highlight how education has a significant impact on how self-concept is developed and expressed in a variety of ways.