Gender and Positive Youth Development
Advancing Sustainable Development Goals in Ghana
Abstract
Abstract. The positive youth development (PYD) perspective suggests that thriving leads to participation and contribution. All nations working to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Ghana, face challenges in their efforts to ensure that all youth have equal opportunities to thrive. The study design was cross-sectional and participants were 858 Ghanaian adolescents attending senior high school (44% girls). We explored thriving indicators as reflected by the 5Cs of PYD (i.e., confidence, competence, connection, character, and caring) in light of the adolescents’ gender and socio-economic background. Results indicated that boys scored higher on competence relative to girls and that girls scored higher on caring relative to boys. No significant differences were found for socio-economic background. Cultural norms and socialization processes that perpetuate gender inequality may be important to understanding the observed gender differences. Implications of these results are considered in light of efforts to achieve SDGs in Ghana.
References
(2007). Access to basic education in Ghana: The evidence and the issues [CREATE Country Analytic Review]. Brighton, UK: University of Sussex.
(2013). A qualitative study exploring factors contributing to gender inequality in rural Ghana. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 4, 481–489. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n1p481
. (2014). The Norwegian government’s gender equality action plan. Retrieved from http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/BLD/Action_plan_2014.pdf
(2014). Creation of short and very short measures of the Five Cs of Positive Youth Development. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 24, 163–176. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12039
. (2010). National youth policy of Ghana. Accra, Ghana: The Republic of Ghana.
. (2012). 2010 population and housing census. Accra, Ghana: Sakoa Press.
(2012). Bias and equivalence in cross-cultural research. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2. https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1111
(1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6, 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
(2015).
Positive youth development: A relational developmental systems model . In W. F. OvertonP. C. MolenaarEds., Handbook of child psychology and developmental science. Vol. 1: Theory and method (7th ed., pp. 607–651). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.. (2018). Implementation of free SHS programme and the double track system. Accra, Ghana: The Republic of Ghana.
(1998–2017). Mplus user’s guide (8th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.
(2017). Positive youth development in global contexts of social and economic change. New York, NY: Routledge.
(2011). Eta squared and partial eta squared as measures of effect size in educational research. Educational Research Review, 6, 135–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2010.12.001
(2018). Measuring spirituality, hope, and thriving among Salvadoran youth: Initial findings from the Compassion International Study of Positive Youth Development. Child & Youth Care Forum, 48, 241–268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-018-9454-1
. (2015). World population prospects: The 2015 revision. New York, NY: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved from https://population.un.org/wpp/Publications/
. (2017). Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017]. Retrieved from https://undocs.org/A/RES/71/313
Verma, S.Petersen, A. C. (Eds.). (2018). Social Indicators Research Series, Vol. 74. Developmental science and sustainable development goals for children and youth. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International.
(2018). Developmental assets among young people in three European contexts: Italy, Norway and Turkey. Child & Youth Care Forum, 48, 187–206. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-018-9446-1
. (2004). The coalition on the women’s manifesto for Ghana. Retrieved from http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/ghana/02983.pdf
