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Awareness Programs and Change in Taste-Based Caste Prejudice

The research article titled "Awareness Programs and Change in Taste-Based Caste Prejudice" explores the impact of awareness programs on reducing caste prejudice in India. The study focuses on management students as potential future employers and aims to understand the nature of employer caste bias and its consequences on labor market outcomes.

The article discusses the theory of taste-based discrimination, which predicts that a decrease in prejudice against a social group will lead to an increase in employment and a reduction in wage inequality for that group. However, the implication of this prediction has not been thoroughly analyzed in the context of caste in India.

To test this theory, the researchers designed a unique lab-based experiment. They exposed groups of observationally equivalent Masters-level business school students in Delhi to either a TV program on caste injustices or an innocuous TV cartoon program. The students' prejudice levels were then measured using a caste-relevant Implicit Attitude Test (IAT).

The results showed that the group exposed to the TV program on caste injustices exhibited significantly lower implicit bias and expressed a higher preference for private sector job reservation. These effects persisted even three months after the treatment. The study suggests that caste-based discrimination in India by high-educated urban individuals is taste-based.

Furthermore, the article highlights the importance of public awareness campaigns in reducing caste prejudice. It argues that awareness programs can play a crucial role in reducing biased attitudes among employers, leading to a reduction in caste discrimination in employment and, ultimately, improving economic productivity and efficiency.

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