The long-running debate of IIT/IIMs vs. Tier-2/3 colleges and why India’s top talent is moving to the USA? What will happen to India’s $5 trillion economy mission!? It’s put forward by Venture capitalist Archana Jahagirdar in a recent post on LinkedIn.
She started by highlighting that India’s real drain is not to the US but to our own biases, which are deeply rooted in our culture and always give priority based on the pedigree of colleges.
She set the critics on the common behavior everyone shows after a top talent gets rejected for a visa: “Every time a top student gets stuck in a visa mess, Twitter claps. As if keeping them back will suddenly fix the system. It won’t.”
She challenged the long-run narrative of Indians that the best minds go abroad. Still, they go there because America has built a system with very few barriers, unlike India. They don’t ask for your school name; a particular way of speaking English isn’t necessary, and your parents’ approach isn’t appreciated.
In comparison to the startup ecosystem, Jahagirdar highlights that the support and trust received by IIT/IIM graduates is far greater than that of Tier 2 graduates.
Somebody can notice the massive barrier easily: “Here, we still measure worth by IIT-IIM tags. We build walls around opportunity, not doors.” She added: “Just look at our startup ecosystem. It is still run by the same 300 people from the same 10 institutions. And god forbid you come from a Tier 2 college, a small town, or worse — have an unconventional idea. You’ll be judged, doubted, and discarded before you even begin.”
Jahagirdar not only criticizes the ecosystem but also shares some reforms to help India become a $5T economy: “We need to stop treating pedigree like a passport. We need to treat talent like infrastructure.
Build for it. I bet on it. Back it.
While concluding her message, Jahagirdar challenged founders and investors to make this happen: “And it’s up to us — founders, investors — to make that happen. Not America.Us.”
