The Effect of Parental Economic Expectation on Gender Disparity in Secondary Education in Ghana: A Propensity Score Matching Approach

Prince Donkor, Ya Ding and Gideon Adu-Boateng
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Prince Donkor: School of Management and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Ya Ding: School of Management and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Gideon Adu-Boateng: Department of Social Studies, Prempeh College, P.O. Box KS 1993, Kumasi 0023, Ghana

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 23, 1-17

Abstract: Ghana, like most sub-Saharan African countries, continues to face gender disparity at the higher levels of the educational hierarchy. This paper seeks to investigate whether gender disparity in senior secondary schools in Ghana is influenced by the economic expectations that parents have for their children’s education. Using data from Ghana Living Standard Survey round 6 (GLSS 6), the study employs Propensity Score Matching in its analysis. Intra-household income inequality was used as a for measure parental expectations of the economic returns of education. The results revealed that, on the average, Ghanaian parents expect their male children to reap more economic benefits from education than girls. This attitude culminates in higher investment in boys’ education to the disadvantage of their female counterparts at senior secondary schools. It is therefore recommended that appropriate policies should be implemented to ensure that the barriers that prevent women from occupying high-earning positions in the labor market are expunged. With this, parents will believe that girls can have the same economic opportunities as boys and hence will invest equal resources in children’s education irrespective of their gender.

Keywords: gender disparity; education; Propensity Score Matching; Intra-household income inequality; senior secondary school; parental economic expectation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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