Parental Migration, Gender and Child Education in Ghana

Smeets, Chayenne; CEBOTARI, Victor

doi:10.1177/00219096251362416

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Parental Migration, Gender and Child Education in Ghana

Smeets, Chayenne; CEBOTARI, Victor

2025 • In Journal of Asian and African Studies

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

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https://hdl.handle.net/10993/65789

DOI
10.1177/00219096251362416

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Keywords :

Education; gender; Ghana; transnational families; children left-behind

Abstract :

[en] This study employs longitudinal data to examine the self-reported grades in Science, English, and Mathematics, of Ghanaian boys and girls whose parents have migrated internally or internationally. Using a fixed-effects modeling approach, the analysis draws on information collected from 755 secondary school students surveyed as a panel in 2013, 2014, and 2015. The results show that boys with one or both parents away internationally tend to achieve grades equal to or higher than boys with non-migrant parents. In contrast, girls from migrant families generally exhibit no significant differences in grades when compared with girls with non-migrant parents. A critical risk factor identified is the negative impact of parental divorce or separation on the measured educational outcomes of children in migrant families.

Disciplines :

Human geography & demography

Author, co-author :

Smeets, Chayenne; Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA), School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, The Netherlands

CEBOTARI, Victor ; University of Luxembourg

External co-authors :

yes

Language :

English

Title :

Parental Migration, Gender and Child Education in Ghana

Publication date :

August 2025

Journal title :

Journal of Asian and African Studies

ISSN :

0021-9096

Publisher :

SAGE Publications

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Focus Area :

Migration and Inclusive Societies

Development Goals :

4. Quality education

Additional URL :

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/00219096251362416

Funders :

Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek

Funding number :

W01.65.316

Available on ORBilu :

since 13 September 2025

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