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Perspectives on Desirable Work: Findings from a Q Study with Students and Parents in Rural Ghana

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Abstract

The perspectives of young people and parents are important to policy that seeks to address youth unemployment in Africa. A systematic understanding of these should help to avoid implementation failure caused by incompatible assumptions or world views, and increase the likelihood that policies promoted by officials will be effective. We present results of a series of Q Methodology studies with senior high school students and parents at two rural locations in Ghana. At both sites, the dominant perspective among students and parents was that professional jobs were most desirable and that low-skill or manual jobs were least desirable. There was little indication that respondents saw “being your own boss” as making a job desirable. Students showed a strong social ethos: jobs were desirable if they helped people, made the world a better place or built the nation. These results have important implications for strategies that seek to address youth unemployment primarily by promoting entrepreneurship.

Les points de vue des jeunes et des parents sont importants pour informer les politiques qui cherchent à résoudre le problème du chômage chez les jeunes en Afrique. Une compréhension systématique de ceux-ci devrait aider à éviter l’échec dans la mise en œuvre de politiques dû à des présuppositions ou des visions du monde incompatibles entre jeunes et législateurs, et devrait augmenter la probabilité que les politiques promues par ces-derniers soient efficaces. Nous présentons les résultats d’une série d’études qui ont utilisé la méthode Q, et qui ont été faites auprès d’étudiants du secondaire et de parents dans deux sites ruraux au Ghana. Dans les deux sites, le point de vue dominant parmi les répondants était que les métiers professionnels étaient les plus désirables, alors que les métiers manuels ou ceux nécessitants de faibles niveaux de compétences étaient les moins désirables. Peu de signes ont démontré que le fait de pouvoir travailler à son propre compte rendait un emploi plus désirable. Les étudiants ont fait preuve d’un esprit social développé : les emplois étaient désirables s’ils aidaient les gens, s’ils rendaient le monde meilleur, ou s’ils contribuaient au développement de la nation. Ces résultats ont une incidence importante sur les stratégies qui cherchent à résoudre le problème du chômage chez les jeunes surtout par l’entremise de la promotion de l’entreprenariat.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded partly by a grant to IDS from Irish Aid, and partly by UKAID of the UK Government through a grant to the Future Agricultures Consortium (project 200456). We are very grateful to three anonymous reviewers for their insightful suggestions, and their persistence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Development Studies, Churchill College, University of Cambridge, 7 West Rd, Cambridge, CB3 9DP, UK

    Thomas Yeboah

  2. Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Library Road, Brighton, BN1 9RE, UK

    James Sumberg & Justin Flynn

  3. Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana, P.O Box LG 74, Legon-Accra, Botanical Gardens Rd, Accra, Ghana

    Nana Akua Anyidoho

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  1. Thomas Yeboah
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Correspondence to James Sumberg.

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Yeboah, T., Sumberg, J., Flynn, J. et al. Perspectives on Desirable Work: Findings from a Q Study with Students and Parents in Rural Ghana. Eur J Dev Res 29, 423–440 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-016-0006-y

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