Paper short abstract:

Teach for India, Gandhi Fellowship, and various fellowship programs in India attract an increasing number of graduate youths as fellows who engage in addressing social and policy issues. This study using qualitative methods, builds on sociopolitical development theory and examines the fellowships as a way to develop the personal and professional civic capacities and social agentic action of youth.

Paper long abstract:

Introduction

In the last two decades, there's been a notable surge in graduate youth engagement in fellowship programs initiated by governments and non-state entities. Programs like Gandhi Fellowship, Teach for India, Legislative Assistant to Members of Parliament, and many others position participants as change agents, crucial enablers, or problem solvers and envision the fellows carrying significant roles and responsibilities.

Fellows often carry and translate the experience and learning gained during fellowship into their careers as policymakers, implementers, reformers, advocates, and evaluators (Mitchell et al., 2014; Subramanian, 2022; Tripathy & Mahaprashasta, 2022). They remain not just an object of policy but become actors with rights and abilities to shape policies and address problems (Khatun & Tripathy, 2021; Mo & Conn, 2018). These fellowship models are projected as a catalyst and stepping stone for the fellow's professional journey (Labaree, 2010), whereby working for the organizations, fellows will be able to shape their careers.

Research objectives

Systematic research on the exponential increase in fellows as new actors, fellowship as a profession, and the implications of such fellowship programs are lacking in India (Sarkar, 2022). The influence of fellowships on fellows' sociopolitical development also remains theoretically under-specified (McAdam & Brandt, 2009; Scott et al., 2016).

This study aims to understand the journey of youth (fellows) as they engage with social and policy issues and the imprint that the fellowship leaves on them. I specifically look at critical consciousness in youth and the role of fellowships by a) exploring the individual and contextual factors influencing the growth of sociopolitical and cultural knowledge, attitude, and behavior in fellows and b) examining the influence of distinct attributes of fellowship design/structure in shaping the fellows' outcomes.

Conceptual lens of Sociopolitical development theory

Prior literature, predominantly from the global north, has pointed to the fellows' beliefs and

understanding being constantly shaped by their interactions with various actors, exposure to

and immersion in different spaces, such as government and community (Brewer, 2014; Conn

et al., 2022). Along with the fellowship design, the fellows' personality traits, socio-cultural identity, and socioeconomic backgrounds, have also been found to influence how a fellow perceives the problems, the existing status quo, and ways to challenge it (Coffman et al., 2017; Gautreaux & Delgado, 2016). Participation in fellowships is associated with diverse career trajectories (Dobbie & Fryer, 2015) and socio-political attitudes and beliefs (Mo et al., 2022). Hence, in specific context of a developing country, there is an increased number of fellowships catering to youth. To map the development of youth (fellows) as they engage with social and policy issues and the imprint that the fellowship leaves on them, using sociopolitical development theory (Watts et al., 2003; Watts & Halkovic, 2022) as an organizing framework will allow us to study the gradual acquisition of knowledge, critical consciousness, emotional faculties, and the ability to take effective action within political, cultural, economic, social, and other systemic structures. Sociopolitical development studies the process of growth and development of youth as informed, sensitive, and action-oriented about social, political, and other systemic issues and their civic engagement (Watts & Flanagan, 2007).

Methodology

The study used an exploratory qualitative approach, conducting semi-structured interviews with a) the program team (n~14), b) with the fellows (n~35), secondary reports, media articles, and a literature review. Purposive sampling was employed, and semi-structured interviews were taken online via Zoom, lasting 40-90 minutes. An iterative interview protocol was followed after getting institutional ethics approval. After transcription, data was thematically analyzed using six step process of Braun and Clarke (2006).

Findings

1) Fellowships as an alternate human development organization

Fellowship models can be seen as human capital development organizations (Fenzel et al.,

2014), where college graduates and early career professionals work to address society's

problems. The proactive engagement of motivated yet inexperienced young individuals with pressing societal issues exposes them to multifaceted challenges and has the potential to mold their perception of wicked problems and government functionaries. Fellowship acts as a catalyst, an alternative to other degrees, by becoming an alternate higher education space with a more practice-oriented, life skill-driven, praxis mode, action-reflection, and live projects. The fellowship design expands the classroom beyond the teacher and the room, having implications for social work curriculum and education. It falls as a capstone project and a service learning going beyond the professionalization of volunteerism (Alfes et al., 2017) and apprenticeship of a kind (Chan et al., 2022) to train diverse discipline graduate youth but different from a fulltime job to build professionals.

2) Fellow's experience as agents of change

Fellows view fellowship as a platform and opportunity for a) entering the social sector, a stepping stone for a career, and b) exploring their inner selves. The experiences of youth working with the community and addressing complex social problems highlight that fellows keep swimming against the tide of social current and unconventional workspace and community. Through the fellowship experiences, fellows evolve, develop a sense of agency, and take prominent positions. The fellowship experience gives fellows a reality check about social issues, helps them make an informed career choice, and allows them to experience dual identities, highlighting the transformative potential of fellowship for personal and professional development (Ahmann, 2016; Joseph, 2019). The individual outcomes of fellows can be seen through sociopolitical development outcomes highlighted by Watts and Halkovic (2022): 1) in terms of increased capabilities of the youth in their intellectual development, resisting certain practices, delivering constructive emotional works, and exhibiting leadership and social skills; 2) societal involvement where they contributes in various activism and social movements, becomes a part of community-building, community service and organizes campaigns, provides humanitarian and constituency supports, healing and self-care; 3) prolonged engagement and commitment as addressing complex issues takes considerable time where small wins are stepping stones.

Conclusion

The study provides insights into conceptualizing the transformative potential of a multitude of fellowship programs in India, acting as a platform for sociopolitical development of fellows. It expands sociopolitical development theory beyond the United States, acknowledging the influence of sociopolitical context and layered identities on fellows' growth and development.