Nana Akua Anyidoho is an Associate Professor at ISSER and currently director of the Centre for Social Policy Studies (CSPS), also at the University of Ghana. She has a BA in Psychology from the University of Ghana and a PhD in Human Development and Social Policy from Northwestern University.
Her research is broadly in the areas of social policy and social development, with a focus on how people interact with policy. Her work frequently explores themes of participation, inclusion, agency and empowerment by examining how marginalized social groups (in particular, young people and women) respond to globalizing and neo-liberalizing policy structures in their struggles for social and economic rights.
Given the complexity of the processes by which social policy affects human lives and is, in turn, interpreted, adapted or resisted, Prof. Anyidoho brings an interdisciplinary perspective to her research; she has training in social policy, developmental psychology, and African Studies, and in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
She has published and presented her work internationally, and held visiting fellowships at Boston University, Penn State University, and the University of Sussex. She has also carried out commissioned research for the Government of Ghana, the World Bank, UNECA, DFID, IDRC and Cadbury Schweppes, among others. was co-lead for UNECA's report, 'The Situational Analysis of Youth in Africa', which culminated in the development of a policy toolbox for African governments. Between 2016 and 2017, I was the lead consultant for the development of a Social Development Strategy for Ghana's National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), as part of a Long-Term National Development Plan for the Government of Ghana.
Professor Anyidoho is a member of the Executive Committee of CODESRIA, a member of the Board of Directors of the African Studies Association, and the immediate past president of the Ghana Studies Association, an international affiliate of the African Studies Association. She is on the editorial boards of the journals African Affairs, African Review of Economics and Finance, and Policy Studies.
Her publications can be found on anyidoho.me and researchgate.net
Research Areas:
- Young people’s work aspirations and transitions
- young women's digital platform work
- young people’s work and futures in agriculture
- young people’s employment aspirations and preferences
- the school-to-work transition of tertiary graduates
- helps and hindrances to young people's economic empowerment
- Women’s work and empowerment
- informalisation of women’s work
- experiences and challenges of market traders
- civil society advocacy against gender-based violence
- Analysis of policy discourses and practices
- comparative analysis of youth policies
- policy discourses on ‘women’s empowerment’
- the politics of educational language policy
- conceptualising participation in social development policy
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