I am an Associate Professor of social policy and social development at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) and the immediate past Director of the Centre for Social Policy Studies, both at the University of Ghana.
Research interests
I approach social policy and social development with a focus on the person-policy nexus: that is, how people interact with and are impacted by policy.
I am interested, in particular, in how young people and women, as marginalized social groups, attempt to construct better lives for themselves through higher education, employment and activism, all against the backdrop of generally unfavourable policy processes and structures. Thus, my research frequently explores themes of agency, participation, and empowerment.
My publications have covered the following areas:
- Higher education policy and graduate employment
- Young people’s work aspirations, transitions and futures
- Women’s formal and informal work
- Analysis of social policy discourses, processes and practices
Background
Given the complexity of the person-policy nexus, I bring an interdisciplinary perspective to my research. I have a BA in Psychology (1997) from the University of Ghana and a PhD in Human Development and Social Policy (2005) from Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy. My background is primarily in developmental psychology and social policy, with additional training in statistics, economics and African Studies, and in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
Alongside my publications, I contribute to my fields through editorial roles on journals in development, gender, and African studies. I am an Associate Editor of Feminist Africa and also serve on the editorial boards of African Affairs, African Review of Economics and Finance, Ghana Studies, Journal of Modern African Studies, Policy Studies and Studies in Comparative International Development.
I have conducted research with funding from a range of international development and philanthropic organisations, including the British Council, DFID, IDRC, the Mastercard Foundation, the Open Society Initiative of West Africa, and the World Bank. I was co-lead of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s report, The Situational Analysis of Youth in Africa, which culminated in the development of a policy toolbox for African governments. Between 2016 and 2017, I served as lead consultant for the Social Development Strategy of National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), as part of Ghana’s Long-Term National Development Plan.
I am deeply committed to advancing African-led scholarship on social development and social policy across the continent. I am currently co–Principal Investigator of the Gender Equitable and Transformative Social Policy in Africa (GETSPA) Project, a pan-African initiative aimed at reshaping the discourses, scholarship, and practice of social policy on the continent. I also co-chair the Advisory Board of the SSRC's African Peacebuilding and Developmental Dynamics (APDD) Program, which promotes African scholarship on peacebuilding, governance, and development in Africa.
My professional service includes leadership roles in academic associations and university governance. In addition to a recently concluded tenure as the elected faculty representative on the Council of the University of Ghana, I have served on the Executive Committee of the Council for the Development of Social Research in Africa (CODESRIA), the Board of Directors of the African Studies Association (ASA), and as President of the Ghana Studies Association (GSA).