Women's Labor Participation in Ghana and Effects on Human Development: A Focus on Entrepreneurship

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v12i3.4889

Keywords:

Women, entrepreneurship, Ghana, development, gender inequality, labor force, access to resources, socioeconomic status

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the gender-rooted challenges that women entrepreneurs face in Ghana and to analyze the impacts that increasing women’s rights and entrepreneurship have had on the country’s economy. Several indicators (including labor force participation, women's seats in national parliaments, the Women Business and the Law index, primary completion rate, and the gender inequality index) of gender equality and the prevalence of women’s entrepreneurship are compared with economic and human development trends. Through statistical regressions, the paper’s findings show a positive correlation between greater income equality and women’s seats in national parliament, as well as with the human development index, and conclude that the best way to reduce gender inequality is to increase the number of women in positions of power, as well as improve the education and skill development for women.

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Author Biographies

Audrey Wang, The Winsor School

I’m Audrey Wang, a 17-year-old student at The Winsor School in Boston, MA. Outside of school, I am a pre-professional ballet dancer and head of a high school robotics team. I am strongly interested in the STEM-related areas of economics and business, and I hope to pursue those areas in my future career.

Antonio Bojanic, Tulane University

Antonio N. Bojanic is a Senior Professor of Practice with primary research interests in applied macroeconomics, economic development, and epidemiological modeling. Before joining the economics department at Tulane, he was a public servant in his native Bolivia and a development consultant for the World Bank, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and the InterAmerican Development Bank (IADB). A highlight of his former life as a development specialist is having led a World Bank-DFID funded program on reducing administrative barriers to investment in Sierra Leone.

Bridget Hamill

Bridget E. Hamill recently received her PhD in Higher Education from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and University. She also previously earned a Master’s in Higher Education from Columbia University Teacher’s College and a Bachelor’s in Economics from St. Lawrence University. Her career in Higher Education has been student-focused and she works one-on-one with students. Prior to attending graduate school, she was an Assistant Director of Admissions at St. Lawrence University, her alma mater, and an International Admissions Counselor for Hollins University.

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Published

08-31-2023

How to Cite

Wang, A., Bojanic, A., & Hamill, B. (2023). Women’s Labor Participation in Ghana and Effects on Human Development: A Focus on Entrepreneurship. Journal of Student Research, 12(3). https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v12i3.4889

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 3 (2023)

Section

HS Research Articles

Copyright (c) 2023 Audrey Wang; Antonio Bojanic, Bridget Hamill

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