Youth’s Decent Employment in Guinea: Enabling Factors and a Holistic Approach

Embargo Period

5-10-2019

Degree Name

MA in Sustainable Development

First Advisor

Udi Butler

Abstract

It is widely recognized that youth unemployment is a significant problem in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), one of the main drivers of young people’s desire to emigrate and go to Europe or the USA. While tremendous work has been done in the literature regarding the causes and consequences of the issue, little is known about the key factors allowing youth to gain decent employment. In this paper, I report on a mixed-methods single case research, which discovered that 1) aspiration for making a difference in one's life or community, 2) making more than regular effort for education and for networking, and 3) developing strong personal character were the key factors that contributed to the employment success of a group of 43 youth in The Republic of Guinea. Recognizing, however, that even if all youth could become like these youth, decent employment rates would change slightly given the socio-economic context of Guinea, I combine the lessons learned from this study with the capability approach to entrepreneurship by Dejaeghere & Baxter (2013) in order to craft a new approach to improving youth decent employment in Guinea and in SSA in general.

Disciplines

Advertising and Promotion Management | Behavioral Economics | Development Studies | Economic Theory | Experimental Analysis of Behavior | Family and Consumer Sciences | Growth and Development | International Economics | Vocational Education

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