Is Data Driving or Hijacking Education Policy? (Pachori & Sharma, 2025)

🎙️ Welcome to Revise and Resubmit – the podcast where bold research meets curious minds! 🧠✨Today’s episode is a special one, because we're diving into a thought-provoking article hot off the academic press 📚—published on May 1, 2025, in the prestigious Stanford Social Innovation Review, an ABDC 'B' Journal from none other than Stanford University 🏛️🔥.The article? It’s got a title that’s practically begging for debate: “Is Data Driving or Hijacking Education Policy?” 🤯📊And the minds behind it? Oh, they’re not just any contributors. We’re talking about Rahul Pachori, a doctoral scholar at IIM Indore whose research zooms in on the civic returns to education. But that’s not all—he also serves as a Director at the Ministry of Education, Government of India 🇮🇳, actively shaping the policies this very article critiques. Alongside him is Raavi Sharma, Associate Director at Deloitte India, a powerhouse in public policy and governance advisory. Her work is at the intersection of data-driven policymaking and digital transformation in education. 🚀💡Together, they explore a big, bold question: 💬 Can data truly transform India’s education system for the better—or are we reducing complex realities to cold numbers? 📉🧮They don’t just highlight how data helps us see clearer—better allocation, smarter decisions, measurable impact—they also wave a big red flag 🚩: what happens when numbers start to overshadow nuance? When metrics matter more than meaning? When dashboards replace deep understanding? 😨So here’s the million-rupee question we’re asking today:👉 In the race to quantify everything in education, are we actually losing the plot? 🤔💭Stick around, and let’s dig in! A huge shoutout and thank you to the brilliant authors, Rahul Pachori and Raavi Sharma, and to Stanford University for publishing this essential read in such a prestigious journal. 🙌📖💥 If you’re loving what we’re doing, don’t forget to subscribe to “Revise and Resubmit” on Spotify, follow us on YouTube at Weekend Researcher, and find us on Amazon Prime and Apple Podcast too! 📲🎧📺Let’s revise. Let’s resubmit. And let’s rethink everything we thought we knew. 🚀ReferencePachori, R., & Sharma, R. (2025, May 1). Is Data Driving or Hijacking Education Policy? Stanford Social Innovation Review. Stanford University. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/india-education-policy-dataYoutube Channel⁠https://www.youtube.com/@weekendresearcher⁠Support us on Patreonhttps://patreon.com/weekendresearcher