'Move out of India': Tier 2 graduates urged to leave by techie facing 'IITian bias'

An anonymous engineer has sparked a heated debate online by urging graduates from Tier 2 and Tier 3 colleges to leave India to escape workplace discrimination.

Posting on Reddit, he claimed that IIT alumni often look down on graduates from lower-ranked institutions, creating an environment of bias and exclusion. "Dear Tier 2/3 guys, if you want to live a respectful life, you have to move out of India," he wrote.

The engineer shared his personal experiences of working alongside IIT graduates, recounting years of subtle and overt discrimination. "You will never be respected here because you are from a Tier 2 college," he claimed. According to him, IITians routinely dismissed his contributions, sidelined him in meetings, and excluded him from social events. He alleged they even sabotaged his career growth, particularly during interactions with upper management over promotions or leave requests.

Facing years of such treatment, the engineer found a solution: leaving India. He revealed that pursuing a master’s degree at a top-five U.S. university dramatically changed how he was treated. “Now I’m in the US for the past year, and the way I get treated is so different,” he wrote. While he admitted that biases from IITians persist overseas, he highlighted that the choice to avoid interacting with them was liberating.

The Reddit post has ignited discussions around systemic biases in the workplace and the pressures faced by graduates from non-IIT institutions. While many users supported his perspective, others questioned whether leaving the country was the only solution.