Girls in the national capital take into account the distance, route and transport availability while choosing a college than the institution's credentials due to safety concerns, says a study by Brown University PhD scholar Girija Borker.
The study titled 'Safety First: Perceived Risk of Street Harassment and Educational Choices of Women' analysed the college choices made by 4,000 girls of the city.
"Women are willing to attend a college that is 13.04 percentage points lower in quality than the institution they are eligible for, if they feel the journey will be safer. This is equivalent to choosing a college that is 8.5 ranks lower," the study said.
"Men, on the other hand, are willing to attend a college that is only 1.37 percentage points (or 0.9 ranks) lower in quality," it said.
The research scholar also pointed out in the study that girls are willing to spend more on travelling to colleges to ensure the safety aspect than boys.
"Girls are willing to travel as much as 40 minutes more for a safer journey, whereas boys will increase their travel time by just four minutes for the same reason," the study said.
"The survey also indicates that street harassment imposes an external constraint on women's behaviour that could potentially lead to sub-optimal choices. Choosing a worst- ranked college is likely to have long-term consequences since college quality affects a student's academic training, network of peers, access to opportunities and lifetime earnings," Borker stated.
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