Representative bureaucracy and bureaucratic responsiveness : linking passive and active representation in Ghana's education bureaucracy

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Elijah Agyapong
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Representative Bureaucracy ◽  
Active Representation ◽  
Female Teachers ◽  
Bureaucratic Responsiveness ◽  
Education In Ghana ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Advocacy Role ◽  
The Relationship

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Over the years, scholars have examined representative bureaucracy as a viable means to achieve bureaucratic responsiveness in a democratic society. The theory argues that a diverse public service that mirrors the social demographics of its population in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity (passive representation) is more likely to be responsive to the needs of all citizens (active representation). While a substantial amount of empirical research exists, a comparative understanding of the theory is lacking in Africa. This study expands empirical research on the theory to Ghana, one of the successful democracies in Sub-Saharan Africa, and focuses specifically on female representation in education. The study accomplishes two primary objectives. First, it investigates whether passive representation of female teachers and school administrators would make the education bureaucracy more responsive to girls' education in Ghana. Second, it seeks to understand the mechanisms by which passive representation translates into active representation for female students in the Ghanaian context. The analysis of an administrative dataset on senior high schools within the 216 districts of Ghana revealed that passive representation of female teachers was positively associated with the performance of girls on math and science exit exams. More female students passed the math and science exams in districts that employed more female teachers. The relationship was statistically significant after controlling for other theoretically relevant factors. In order to better understand how passive representation leads to substantive benefits for female students, a comprehensive model was examined which incorporated social backgrounds, attitudes/role acceptance, and active representation. The model hypothesized that a teacher can assume the role of an advocate or a representative of girls' interests. Those who adopt the advocacy role, regardless of their social identities, will be more likely to make decisions or take actions that improve educational outcomes for female students. A random sample of 200 teachers in eight senior high schools within the Accra Metropolis of Ghana was surveyed about their attitudes toward girls' education. In addition, school superintendents and officials in the Ghana Education Service were interviewed to provide qualitative insights. The findings indicated that gender and perceived expectation from various stakeholders influenced the extent to which teachers perceived their roles as advocates of girls. Organizational socialization and the acceptance of impartial bureaucratic roles did not overwhelm the influence of gender and perceived role expectations on the advocacy role. However, adoption of the advocacy role rather than gender predicted the potential for active representation, measured as a teacher's self-reported behavior in terms of actively taking actions to address the educational needs of girls. The findings from this sample lend considerable support for the relationship between role perceptions and the potential for active representation. It suggests that the advocacy role mediates the relationship between passive and active representation. This study therefore provides a better understanding of how a representative bureaucracy can engender responsiveness to women's education in Ghana and the Sub-Saharan African region.

Gender Representation and Student Performance: Representative Bureaucracy Goes to Korea

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 346-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miyeon Song
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Asian Country ◽  
The United States ◽  
Representative Bureaucracy ◽  
Gender Representation ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Organizational Contexts ◽  
Female Teachers ◽  
Managerial Level ◽  
The Relationship

The literature on representative bureaucracy argues that bureaucrats who reflect the diversity of citizens are more likely to be responsive to the public. Although substantial research has supported the claim, most studies are conducted in Western countries such as the United States, and the evidence from other contexts is extremely limited. This raises two important questions: Does the relationship remain valid in a centralized Asian country? If so, under what conditions does representative bureaucracy matter more? This study investigates these questions by using a data set on secondary education in South Korea. Findings suggest that female students perform better when they are taught by female teachers, which strengthens the external validity of the theory. The positive link between female teachers and female student performance is greater when teachers have more discretion and interact more with each other. However, value consensus weakens the relationship between gender representation and student performance. Clientele diversity matters in gender representation at the managerial level, but sector differences are not statistically supported. These findings illustrate the need to take both national and organizational contexts seriously in representative bureaucracy theory.

scholarly journals HIV and cardiovascular disease in sub-Saharan Africa: Demographic and Health Survey data for 4 countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard E. Egede ◽  
Rebekah J. Walker ◽  
Patricia Monroe ◽  
Joni S. Williams ◽  
Jennifer A. Campbell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Health Survey ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Logistic Models ◽  
Population Data ◽  
Demographic And Health Survey ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Background Investigate the relationship between two common cardiovascular diseases and HIV in adults living in sub-Saharan Africa using population data provided through the Demographic and Health Survey. Methods Data for four sub-Saharan countries were used. All adults asked questions regarding diagnosis of HIV, diabetes, and hypertension were included in the sample totaling 5356 in Lesotho, 3294 in Namibia, 9917 in Senegal, and 1051 in South Africa. Logistic models were run for each country separately, with self-reported diabetes as the first outcome and self-reported hypertension as the second outcome and HIV status as the primary independent variable. Models were adjusted for age, gender, rural/urban residence and BMI. Complex survey design allowed weighting to the population. Results Prevalence of self-reported diabetes ranged from 3.8% in Namibia to 0.5% in Senegal. Prevalence of self-reported hypertension ranged from 22.9% in Namibia to 0.6% in Senegal. In unadjusted models, individuals with HIV in Lesotho were 2 times more likely to have self-reported diabetes (OR = 2.01, 95% CI 1.08–3.73), however the relationship lost significance after adjustment. Individuals with HIV were less likely to have self-reported diabetes after adjustment in Namibia (OR = 0.29, 95% CI 0.12–0.72) and less likely to have self-reported hypertension after adjustment in Lesotho (OR = 0.63, 95% CI 0.47–0.83). Relationships were not significant for Senegal or South Africa. Discussion HIV did not serve as a risk factor for self-reported cardiovascular disease in sub-Saharan Africa during the years included in this study. However, given the growing prevalence of diabetes and hypertension in the region, and the high prevalence of undiagnosed cardiovascular disease, it will be important to continue to track and monitor cardiovascular disease at the population level and in individuals with and without HIV. Conclusions The odds of self-reported diabetes in individuals with HIV was high in Lesotho and low in Namibia, while the odds of self-reported hypertension in individuals with HIV was low across all 4 countries included in this study. Programs are needed to target individuals that need to manage multiple diseases at once and should consider increasing access to cardiovascular disease management programs for older adults, individuals with high BMI, women, and those living in urban settings.

Reactionaries of the lectern: Universalism, anti-empiricism and corporatism in Austrian (and German) social theory

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-305
Author(s):  
Alan Scott ◽  
Silvia Rief
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Vienna Circle ◽  
Social Thought ◽  
Grand Theory ◽  
Institutional Power ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Opposite View ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Early Manifestation

This article discusses one early manifestation of a recurring theme in social theory and sociology: the relationship between general (‘universal’ or ‘grand’) theory and empirical research. For the early critical theorists, empiricism and positivism were associated with technocratic domination. However, there was one place where the opposite view prevailed: science and empiricism were viewed as forces of social and political progress and speculative social theory as a force of reaction. That place was Red Vienna of the 1920s and early 1930s. We examine how this view came to be widespread among Austro-Marxists, empirical researchers and some members of the Vienna Circle. It focuses on the arguments and institutional power of their opponents: reactionary, universalistic and corporatist social theorists. The debate between Catholic corporatist theory and its empiricist critics is located not merely in Vienna but also within wider debates in the German-speaking world. Finally, we seek to link these lesser-known positions to more familiar strands of social thought, namely, those associated with Weber and, more briefly, Durkheim and Elias.

Cultural orientation, perceived support and participation of female students in formal entrepreneurship in the sub-Saharan economy of Ghana

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Anlesinya ◽  
Oluwayemisi Ajoke Adepoju ◽  
Ulf Henning Richter
Keyword(s):  
Support System ◽  
Power Distance ◽  
Cultural Orientation ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Perceived Support ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Orientations ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Ghanaian Women

Purpose This purpose of this paper is to examine cultural orientations and intention of Ghanaian women to engage in entrepreneurship while assessing the role of perceived support system. The aim is to contribute to the literature in the sub-Saharan African context where women entrepreneurs are generally under-researched, despite their increasing significant roles in socio-economic development in the continent even in the face of huge cultural barriers. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a hierarchical regression analysis and Hay’s PROCESS moderation technique to analyze survey data from 190 female students from Ghana, Africa. Findings The results indicate that uncertainty avoidance and power distance cultural orientations have significant positive and negative effects, respectively, on women’s participation in formal entrepreneurship. However, collectivism and masculine cultural orientations do not have any effect on their intention to engage in formal entrepreneurial activity. The study further shows that perceived support system has a buffering effect on the destructive consequences of power distance culture on formal entrepreneurship intentions. On the contrary, perceived support does not moderate the relationship between uncertainty avoidance, collectivism and masculine cultural and formal entrepreneurial intention. Practical implications Given the fact that most African governments are making efforts to accelerate the growth and development of their economies via entrepreneurship and economic empowerment, this study’s findings encourage stakeholders to implement measures to leverage on the positive dimensions of cultures to facilitate the development of formal entrepreneurship among Ghanaian women while mitigating the negative consequences of cultural practices. The findings further highlight the need to evaluate the current level of support given to women in Ghana. The study suggests that provision of sufficient level of support can make women more willing to challenge the status quo in power distance cultures and take personal initiatives, thereby leading to more formal entrepreneurial actions. Originality/value This study is a significant addition to women entrepreneurship literature because the role of culture in females’ intention to participate in entrepreneurship is generally an under-researched area. Besides, our examination of national cultural variation at the individual level on formal entrepreneurship intention in a heterogeneous setting is novel. The study also highlights the buffering roles of perceived support on the destructive consequences of power distance cultural orientation on formal entrepreneurial development among women.

WOMEN'S WORK AND FERTILITY IN A SUB-SAHARAN URBAN SETTING: A SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT APPROACH

2000 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
VICTOR AGADJANIAN
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Contraceptive Use ◽  
Women's Work ◽  
Work Environments ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Multivariate Tests ◽  
Modern Contraception ◽  
Women’S Work ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Relationship

Data from three separate studies conducted in Maputo, Mozambique, in 1993 are used to analyse the relationship between the type of social environment in which women work and their fertility and contraceptive use. The analysis finds that women who work in more collectivized environments have fewer children and are more likely to use modern contraception than women who work in more individualized milieus and those who do not work outside the home. Most of these differences persist in multivariate tests. It is argued that collectivized work environments are most conducive to diffusion and legitimation of reproductive innovations. In contrast, individualized environments tend to isolate women and therefore may retard their acceptance of innovative fertility-related behaviour.

scholarly journals The Regime-Switching Behaviour of Exchange Rates and Frontier Stock Market Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 122
Author(s):  
Maud Korley ◽  
Evangelos Giouvris
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Stock Markets ◽  
Regime Switching ◽  
Markov Switching ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Var Model ◽  
High Volatility ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Fx Market

Frontier markets have become increasingly investible, providing diversification opportunities; however, there is very little research (with conflicting results) on the relationship between Foreign Exchange (FX) and frontier stock markets. Understanding this relationship is important for both international investor and policymakers. The Markov-switching Vector Auto Regressive (VAR) model is used to examine the relationship between FX and frontier stock markets. There are two distinct regimes in both the frontier stock market and the FX market: a low-volatility and a high-volatility regime. In contrast with emerging markets characterised by “high volatility/low return”, frontier stock markets provide high (positive) returns in the high-volatility regime. The high-volatility regime is less persistent than the low-volatility regime, contrary to conventional wisdom. The Markov Switching VAR model indicates that the relationship between the FX market and the stock market is regime-dependent. Changes in the stock market have a significant impact on the FX market during both normal (calm) and crisis (turbulent) periods. However, the reverse effect is weak or nonexistent. The stock-oriented model is the prevalent model for Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Irrespective of the regime, there is no relationship between the stock market and the FX market in Cote d’Ivoire. Our results are robust in model selection and degree of comovement.

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