Worthy of being Chosen? An Assessment of UGC-NET Results in Library & Information Science

Students and members of faculty of universities always show interest in UGC-NET results to assess the performance of their respective university or department candidates. But rarely do they get a structured view of the NET results in a subject of their interest. It is mostly due to the restricted access to data from UGC. In this study we have attempted to understand the distribution pattern of NET qualifiers, gender equilibrium in success and the impact of change in Paper-III to multiple choice type in Library and Information Science (LIS). The study of the NET results from nine tests (June 2010 – June 2014) shows an abrupt growth of qualifiers after the introduction of multiple choice type Paper-III. The distributions of qualifiers are wider after June 2012 but there is not much change in top contributing universities/centers to the number. Almost all states find a NET qualifier in LIS subject after June 2012. Introduction of multiple choice Paper-III sees an immediate drop in female qualifiers from ∼50% to ∼36% but later started improving. The most interesting observation of this study is the substantial increase in quality qualifiers with the introduction of multiple choice type Paper-III. The improvement in quality is evident from the increase in the average score of Paper-I (from 45.82% to 60.67%). More eligible candidates in a subject provide more choices to the experts to evaluate as per specific requirement during recruitment process. So the increase in the numbers of NET qualifiers in LIS after change to multiple choice type Paper-III is a positive happening.