Abstract:

In this seminar, we present collated findings from the project Education and labour market dynamics in a period of rapid education expansion: Building evidence from existing Ghanaian survey data sources. The project, funded by G2LM | LIC Programme, was a collaboration led by Nicola Branson and Emma Whitelaw in SALDRU's Siyaphambili Education Research Initiative together with Robert Osei, lead of the Ghana node of the African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research (ACEIR). The project aimed to make three contributions spanning (1) data harmonisation and enhancements, (2) research, and (3) capacity building.

As Africa's youth population grows, governments across the continent are increasingly shifting policy focus to participation in secondary education to meet SDG 4. Ghana has already expanded access dramatically, first through free, compulsory junior high school in 1996 and, since 2017, through Free Senior High School (Free SHS). This project asked what that expansion has meant beyond getting more young people into school. We therefore examined education expansion across a set of margins: attainment and skills, intergenerational opportunity, progression through the education system, the type and quality of work, and women's psychological wellbeing.
We find that relative educational opportunity changed more slowly and unevenly than absolute increases in attainment. Expansion has also altered the type of productive activity undertaken in adulthood, with markedly different destinations for women and men. The early Free SHS evidence suggests that expanded access is already changing progression within the education system, including beyond the most academically prepared students. Finally, the association between secondary credentials and women's mental health highlights the importance of considering potential non-market benefits alongside education and employment outcomes.
About the presenter:
Emma Whitelaw is a postdoctoral researcher at the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) at the University of Cape Town, where she contributes to the Siyaphambili Initiative – a hub for education information and research. Her research uses linked administrative and survey data to study questions relating to inequality in educational opportunity, school-to-work and school-to-university transitions, free education and financial aid policies, and social mobility. She is also a fellow of the SALDRU–IIASA collaboration, which places education at the core of population dynamics and sustainable development.