A Comparative Overview of Mechanism of Educational Inequality in relation to Patterns of Educational Inequality – India, China and Indonesia

Much of the in-depth work done on educational access has focused on patterns of education inequality in a particular country. While this focus is necessary, a broader cross-national comparative analysis of results from in-depth national studies has the benefit of providing a deeper understanding into the intricate mechanisms of educational inequality. This paper reviews empirical evidence from intervention studies, in-depth field surveys, observational studies and results from qualitative survey findings in India, Indonesia and China with the aim of shedding light on mechanisms behind educational barriers, and comparing them to common patterns of inequality more commonly found in existing literature. Through this international comparison, I hope to understand if there is more to learn about eliminating barriers to education than merely looking at patterns of inequality, and if there are potentially transferable solutions to ameliorable barriers. Differences in patterns and mechanisms of educational inequality would be just as meaningful as similar patterns but different mechanisms (and vice versa) of inequality across these countries in understanding the promotion of human capital acquisition in Asia.