ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Women Librarians in Ghana: Their Status and Career Development.

The study investigated the current status and occupational characteristics of professional women librarians in Ghana. The study also sought to establish their career advancement opportunities and to investigate factors inhibiting their career development. Another objective of the study was to find out how they were perceived by their male counterparts. Using data obtained through questionnaire, the study sought for information relating to the background of female librarians in Ghana, their work experience, status and career advancement opportunities. All the professional women librarians in Ghana were included in the survey. The population size was thirty-five. The findings reveal that women librarians in Ghana could advance to any height without discrimination. Also, they did not experience any form of discrimination from their male counterparts in terms of remuneration or career development

Source: UG
Women living with multi-morbidity in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana: A qualitative study guided by the Cumulative Complexity Model

Defined as the co-occurrence of more than two chronic conditions, multi-morbidity has been described as a significant health care problem: a trend linked to a rise in non-communicable disease and an ageing population. Evidence on the experiences of living with multi-morbidity in middle-income countries (MICs) is limited. In high-income countries (HICs), multi-morbidity has a complex impact on health outcomes, including functional status, disability and quality of life, complexity of health care and burden of treatment. Previous evidence also shows that multi-morbidity is consistently higher amongst women. This study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of women living with multi-morbidity in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana: to understand the complexity of their health needs due to multi-morbidity, and to document how the health system has responded. Guided by the Cumulative Complexity Model, and using stratified purposive sampling, 20 in-depth interviews were conducted between May and September 2015 across three polyclinics in the Greater Accra Region. The data were analysed using the six phases of Thematic Analysis. Overall four themes emerged: 1) the influences on patients’ health experience; 2) seeking care and the responsiveness of the health care system; 3) how patients manage health care demands; and 4) outcomes due to health. Spirituality and the stigmatization caused by specific conditions, such as HIV, impacted their overall health experience. Women depended on the care and treatment provided through the health care system despite inconsistent coverage and a lack of choice thereof, although their experiences varied by chronic condition. Women depended on their family and community to offset the financial burden of treatment costs, which was exacerbated by having many conditions. The implications are that integrated health and social support, such as streamlining procedures and professional training on managing complexity, would benefit and reduce the burden of multi-morbidity experienced by women with multi-morbidity in Ghana.

Source: UG
Women Moving Within Borders: Gender and Internal Migration dynamics in Ghana

Internal migration is an inherent part of the processes of development and structural transformation in any region. In Africa, while the focus is often on international migration, internal migration is far more significant for development in terms of the numbers of people moving and their poverty reduction potential and well-being outcomes. In Ghana, as the numbers of women and girls moving independently has been on the increase, a “feminisation” of migration is said to be underway. Many of these young women and girls move independent of their families from rural agricultural communities in the north to urban centres in the south, where they work in low scale, mostly unskilled occupations. Despite the increasing numbers of Ghanaian women on the move as internal migrants, and their gendered implications, very few studies have focused on how the relationship between migration and human development operates in gender differentiated ways, nor on how gender as a social construction that organizes relations between males and females can greatly differentiate the causes, processes and impacts of migration on development thereby enhancing economic growth and reducing poverty. Using mainly secondary data, this paper provides an overview of the gendered nature of internal migration movements in Ghana and discusses how gender relations and gendered power dynamics can significantly affect all aspects of the migration process both at area of origin and destination. It also highlights the policy implications of these gendered dynamics. Its central argument is that people's experiences of gender are central to the patterns, causes and impacts of migration and that gender affects how people are able to contribute to and benefit from the migration process and enhance social and economic development. It also urges the need for a more positive and nuanced view and response to rural-urban migrants by Government policies and strategies to enhance the potential benefits of migration for men and women

Source: UG
“Women Moving Within Borders: Gender and Internal Migration dynamics in Ghana”

Internal migration is an inherent part of the processes of development and structural transformation in any region. In Africa, while the focus is often on international migration, internal migration is far more significant for development in terms of the numbers of people moving and their poverty reduction potential and well-being outcomes. In Ghana, as the numbers of women and girls moving independently has been on the increase, a “feminisation” of migration is said to be underway. Many of these young women and girls move independent of their families from rural agricultural communities in the north to urban centres in the south, where they work in low scale, mostly unskilled occupations. Despite the increasing numbers of Ghanaian women on the move as internal migrants, and their gendered implications, very few studies have focused on how the relationship between migration and human development operates in gender differentiated ways, nor on how gender as a social construction that organizes relations between males and females can greatly differentiate the causes, processes and impacts of migration on development thereby enhancing economic growth and reducing poverty. Using mainly secondary data, this paper provides an overview of the gendered nature of internal migration movements in Ghana and discusses how gender relations and gendered power dynamics can significantly affect all aspects of the migration process both at area of origin and destination. It also highlights the policy implications of these gendered dynamics. Its central argument is that people's experiences of gender are central to the patterns, causes and impacts of migration and that gender affects how people are able to contribute to and benefit from the migration process and enhance social and economic development. It also urges the need for a more positive and nuanced view and response to rural-urban migrants by Government policies and strategies to enhance the potential benefits of migration for men and women

Source: UG
Women on boards, firm earnings management (EM) and performance nexus: does gender diversity moderate the EM–performance relationship?

Purpose – This paper aims to shed light on an essential role that ‘‘female directors’’ on boards of companies in sub-Saharan Africa play towards corporate financial performance enhancement. The study observes how board gender diversity moderates the relationship between earnings management (EM) and financial performance of firms in sub-Saharan Africa from a dynamic perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The study’s sample comprises 105 companies listed on the respective stock markets of nine sub-Saharan African countries. The data are collected from annual reports over the period 2007–2019, a total of 1,166 firm-year observations. Panel data models are used in the analyses. Findings – The study finds that the performance effect of EM is contingent on board diversity and this finding persists even after controlling for dynamic endogeneity, simultaneity and unobserved time invariant heterogeneity inherent in the EM and performance relationship. Research limitations/implications – The findings should be understood within the context that, only available annual reports and audited financial statements that were filed with respective capital markets of the nine surveyed countries are used as source of information. Originality/value – The current study is unique, in that, it is the first panel multi-cross-country investigation within Africa to introduce gender diversity in the study of the relationship between EM and firm performance. It therefore extends the agency theory by using gender diversity as a moderating variable in the EM–firm performance nexus.

Source: UG
Women with painful breasts without palpable masses: Do they really need a mammogram?

This prospective study was carried out over a period of 36 months, and the study population was, all the women (726) referred for mammograms on account of painful breast(s) without palpable masses. They were matched with the same number of asymptomatic women in a control group. The mammographic findings in the women with painful breast(s) and no palpable masses were normal in 639 (88%), benign in 80 (11%), suspicious in 2 (0.3%) and malignant in 5 (0.7%). In the control group mammograms showed normal breasts in 625 (86.1%), benign and suspicious lesions in 87 (12%) and 7 (1.0%) respectively. Malignant lesions were recorded in 7 (0.9%) women. The prevalence of breast cancer was similar in women with painful breast(s) and the control asymptomatic cases. Our reports show that inspite of the pain experienced by the women in this study mammography had a low diagnostic yield of malignant lesions, just as it was found in the control group. Mammography therefore, in these patients will only provide reassurance.

Source: UG
Women's Access to Health Care in Ghana: Effects of Education, Residence, Lineage and Self-Determination

Women*» physical and psychological access to health care was analyzed using the 2009 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS), a nationally representative .study for monitoring population and health in Ghana. Female respondents from the 2133 cases in the couple's data set were used in this study. Women's level of education was positively related to physical but not to psyvhologicul access to health care. Residing in an urban area was positively related to both types of access. MatriHny consistently showed positive effects on physical acce.ss. In addition tu these demographic factors, both physical and psychological access were positively related to women^s self-determination, i.e., women\s right and ability to make reai choices about their lives including their health, fertility, sexuality, childcare and all areas where women are denied autonomy and dignity in their identities as women. Self-determination factors huth mediated the effects of background factors on access and added explanatory power to the models.

Source: UG
Women’s and Gender Studies in English-Speaking Sub-Saharan Africa.

This article seeks to broaden understanding of issues and controversies addressed in social science research on women’s and gender studies by researchers and activists based in English-speaking sub-Saharan Africa. The topics covered were selected from those ratified by African women in the Africa Platform for Action in 1995 as well as from current debates on the politics of identity. The common feminist issues the authors identified were health; gender-based violence; sexuality, education, globalization and work; and politics, the state, and nongovernmental organizations. In addition, the authors address theoretical and methodological trends. All four coauthors are feminist sociologists: One scholar is based in an African academic institution, two are Africans based in U.S. academic institutions, and one is an African American based in a U.S. academic institution.

Source: UG
Women's and gender studies in Ghana

Over the last half century the subject of gender and, in particular, women’s place in society has come of age in Ghanaian scholarly work. Accompanying this have been important contributions from civil society, including increased activism around particular issues such as gender-based violence and women’s economic citizenship. The question of “gender” has gained visibility, and even in popular culture the implications of the gendered architecture of our societies receives attention. While the last several decades have been interesting times for scholars in women and gender studies (WGS), there is currently no single essay that chronicles and analyzes the evolution of the discipline in Ghana. In this chapter, we draw the map of WGS in Ghana, albeit by no means an exhaustive map, reviewing trends in the content, epistemologies, and methodologies of the discipline. We pay attention to the relationship of WGS to “traditional” social science approaches, practices in the academy, as well as relationship to policy. We also analyze both anthropological and ethnographic studies which, though not necessarily cast in the framework of gender studies, nonetheless, provide important impetus for gender analyses, as well as contemporary works that overtly rely on feminist frameworks. Topics covered in these studies include politics and the state; work and livelihoods; religion; health; gender-based violence and in the last few decades, gender and development policy and practice; sexualities and bodily integrity; and women’s organizing. We conclude by suggesting how WGS have benefited from the social sciences, and what the social sciences might learn from the approaches, strategies, and practices of WGS in Ghana over the last 30 years.

Source: UG
Women’s Contraceptive Use, Fertility Intention, and Associated Factors: Evidence from Health and Demographic Surveillance System, Eastern Ethiopia

Background: Improving maternal health condition is a critical global health concern. But in 2012, 222 million women who want to avoid pregnancy are not using contraceptives in developing countries. The main purpose of this study was to assess women’s contraceptive use and fertility intention, and the associated factors in eastern Ethiopia. Methods: Community based survey was conducted among 2,072 women (15-49 years) in Harar Health Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) site in eastern Ethiopia. Data were gathered by trained data collectors, and entered into computer based software and exported to Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 for analysis. Descriptive, binary and multiple logistic regression analysis were carried out. A statistical association was declared using adjusted odds ratio at 95% confidence interval and p values <0.05. Results: Almost all the women (99.5%, n=2,061) have ever heard about family planning methods. Health professionals (62.1%, n=1286) were the main source of information about the family planning methods. The women who had ever used contraceptive and who were using currently (during study period) were 89.4% (1,853) and 73.0% (n=1512), respectively. Injectable method (52.3%) was the most popular method, followed by pills (24.8%). Implanon, Intrauterine contraceptive device and surgical methods were used 15.5%, 2.1% and 0.2%, respectively. Forty seven percent of the women had no desire to have a baby in the next two years. The women’s age ranged 30-39 years (AOR =0.49; 95% CI: 0.37, 0.64), women’s age ranged from 40-49 years (AOR=0.25; 95% CI: 0.18, 0.35), women unable to unable to read and write (AOR=0.64; 95% CI: 0.50, 0.84), women who had >2 alive children (AOR=0.28; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.57) had significant association with their contraceptive use. Also, women’s age ranged 30-39 years (AOR=0 .68; 95% CI: 0.54, 0.85), women’s age ranged from 40-49 years (AOR=0.24; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.32), women who had no alive children (AOR=5.42; 95% CI: 1.59, 18.46) and had <2 alive children (AOR=2.42; 95% CI: 1.22, 4.82) were significantly associated with women’s fertility intention. Conclusion: The women’s contraceptive use and an intention not to have a baby were high compared with 2016 EDHS report of Harari Regional State. The study participants’ age, educational status, and having alive children were the factors associated with their contraceptive use and fertility intention. Therefore, we recommend that concerned stakeholders focus on the associated factors to address the contraceptive use and realize the women’s fertility intention.

Source: UG
Women’s economic empowerment and poverty: Specification empirics examining global data

female sole proprietors are used as women’s entrepreneurial surrogates to determine the impact of women’s economic empowerment on poverty globally. Using a Fixed-effect model (FEM) and dominance analysis (DA) as an estimation technique, this study sampled carefully ninety-five (95) countries for which data is available for the years 2002 to 2021. These countries are further subdivided into regions for further examinations. Based on the global dataset, the study concludes that the number of female business owners across the study sample significantly contribute to poverty reduction. It is pertinent to emphasize that policy measures that aim to in crease the share of female business owners on a worldwide scale should incorporate the poverty threshold. In terms of regional blocks classifications, varied results are produced for both number of female business owners and number of female sole proprietors. This study is anticipated to be valuable in terms of originality since it provides a precise and coherent understanding of the genuine measure on women’s economic empowerment that must be placed, from the perspective of global dataset and regional blocks, to reduce global poverty more effectively.

Source: UG
Women's educational level and quality of antenatal care utilization

Provision and access to quality antenatal care for women have been a problem in Sub-Saharan Africa and developing countries. Quality antenatal care is critical in enabling women and health workers identify risks and danger signs during pregnancy. The extent to which women's educational level affects their uptake and quality of antenatal care is uncertain. The study seeks to measure the influence of women's educational attainment on quality of antenatal care using the clinical component proposed by Donabedian. Data used in the study were from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey. Factor analysis was used to compute a variable for quality of antenatal care. The main independent variable was women's educational level. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the effect of women's education on quality of antenatal care. The results of the study showed that education had no influence on quality of antenatal care utilization. However, other utilization and demographic factors such as age and ethnicity were found to be significant predictors of quality of antenatal care. Therefore, all women irrespective of their level of education should be encouraged not just to attend antenatal care clinics but utilize the required services provided. Attention should focus on health providers to increase supply-side factors in improving levels of utilization and service quality. Emphasis on policy should also be on ethnicity as there are cultural dimensions that affect quality of antenatal care utilization.

Source: UG
Women's experiences of intimate partner economic abuse in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

Despite its prevalence, intimate partner economic abuse has received less scholarly attention in sub-Saharan Africa. Using qualitative enquiry, this study describes the experiences of economic abuse among 18 women in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Economic abuse occurred in a variety of forms, including extortion, denial of income-earning activity, and attempts to deny women’s economic independence and financial self-sufficiency. Findings point to the pervasiveness of economic abuse among both highand low-income women. While economic dependency among nonworking women was associated with sexual violence, working and independent women experienced physical and emotional violence on questioning intimate partner’s economic abuse.

Source: UG
Women’s experiences of mistreatment during childbirth and their satisfaction with care: findings from a multicountry community-based study in four countries

Introduction Experiences of care and satisfaction are intrinsically linked, as user’s experiences of care may directly impact satisfaction, or indirectly impact user’s expectations and values. Both experiences of care and satisfaction are important to measure so that quality can be monitored and improved. Globally, women experience mistreatment during childbirth at facilities; however, there is limited evidence exploring the mistreatment and women’s satisfaction with care during childbirth. Methods This is a secondary analysis of a cross sectional survey within the WHO study ‘How women are treated during facility-based childbirth’ exploring the mistreatment of women during childbirth in Ghana, Guinea, Myanmar and Nigeria. Women’s experiences of mistreatment and satisfaction with care during childbirth was explored. Multivariable logistic regression modelling was conducted to evaluate the association between mistreatment, women’s overall satisfaction with the care they received, and whether they would recommend the facility to others. Results 2672 women were included in this analysis. Despite over one-third of women reporting experience of mistreatment (35.4%), overall satisfaction for services received and recommendation of the facility to others was high, 88.4% and 90%, respectively. Women who reported experiences of mistreatment were more likely to report lower satisfaction with care: women were more likely to be satisfied if they did not experience verbal abuse (adjusted OR (AOR) 4.52, 95% CI 3.50 to 5.85), or had short waiting times (AOR 5.12, 95% CI 3.94 to 6.65). Women who did not experience any physical or verbal abuse or discrimination were more likely to recommend the facility to others (AOR 3.89, 95% CI 2.98 to 5.06). Conclusion Measuring both women’s experiences and their satisfaction with care are critical to assess quality and provide actionable evidence for quality improvement. These measures can enable health systems to identify and respond to root causes contributing to measures of satisfaction.

Source: UG
Women’s experiences of surviving severe obstetric complications: a qualitative inquiry in southern Ghana

Women who survive severe obstetric complications (SOC) have health and well-being issues even up to 1 year postpartum and have challenges in their quality-of-life (QoL). However, little is known about their predicaments. This study aimed to describe the impact of severe obstetric complications on women’s QoL and well-being after surviving severe obstetric complications. Using the WHO standards for near-miss, twelve (12) women who survived severe obstetric complications were recruited between January and March 2019. The study adopted a qualitative approach with an exploratory descriptive design to explore the experiences of women who survived SOC in Southern Ghana. The participants were purposively sampled and were interviewed face to face in their homes and healthcare facility after discharge from the Hospital. Recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Two (2) major themes and nine (9) sub-themes emerged. The findings revealed that women who suffered SOC are unable to perform functional activities, have financial constraints, residual hypertension, signs and symptoms of anaemia, pain, and mostly have difficulty in sleeping due to fear of death when they fall asleep. Anxiety, sadness, and emotional trauma was a common phenomenon. The study findings offer insights and directions on measures to improve the care and QoL of women who have survived severe obstetric complications in Ghana.

Source: UG