Structural and Cultural Barriers to Youth Research Engagement in Bangladesh: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

This review asks why so few young people in Bangladesh take part in research, and what keeps them out. It draws on thirty-five peer-reviewed studies, government reports, and empirical analyses set in Bangladeshi higher education, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework. The evidence falls under five themes: the landscape of youth research participation, structural and institutional barriers, cultural and motivational factors, the mentorship and peer-community deficit, and enabling pathways. The numbers are stark. Only 21.5% of undergraduates do any research beyond required coursework, 76.2% have never received mentorship or guidance on research, and in 2020 the country's universities spent just 2% of their academic budgets on it. Several forces deepen the problem. A neoliberal policy environment has turned universities into credential factories rather than places that generate knowledge. A digital divide shuts 67.5% of students out of reliable online access to research. Gendered exclusion holds female participation in STEM to roughly 14%. And an exam-driven, rote-learning culture suppresses participation well before students reach university. The review closes with an integrated conceptual framework and ten specific policy recommendations for Bangladesh, drawn from the full set of thirty-five studies.