JOB: Research Assistant on Global Education Policy

I’m hiring a full-time research assistant based in London, for more details see the Ark website here.

 

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Research and evidence are at the heart of EPG’s work. We have:

• Collaborated with JPAL on a large-scale field experiment on school accountability in Madhya Pradesh, India
• Commissioned a randomized evaluation by IPA of Liberia’s public-private partnership in primary schooling
• Led a five-year randomized trial of a school voucher programme in Delhi
• Helped the Ugandan National Examinations Bureau create new value-added measures of school performance
• Commissioned scoping studies of non-state education provision in Kenya and Uganda 

Reporting to the Head of Research and Evaluation, the Research Assistant will contribute to EPG’s work through a mixture of background research, data analysis, writing, and organizational activities. S/he will support and participate in ongoing and future academic research projects and EPG project monitoring and evaluation activities.

The role is based in Ark’s London office with some international travel.

The successful candidate will perform a range of research, data analysis, and coordination duties, including, but not limited to, the following: 

• Conduct literature and data searches for ongoing research projects.
• Organize data, provide descriptive statistics, and run other statistical analysis using Stata and preparing publication quality graphics
• Collaborate with EPG’s project team to draft blogs, policy briefs, and notes on research findings.
• Support EPG’s project team in the design and implementation of project monitoring and evaluation plan
• Provide technical support and testing on the development of value-added models of school quality
• Coordination and update of the EPG/GSF research repository
• Organise internal research and policy seminars
• Perform other duties as assigned. 

The successful candidate will have the following qualifications and skills: 

• Bachelor’s (or Master’s) degree in international development, economics, political science, public policy, or a related field.
• Superb written and verbal communication skills.
• Competence and experience conducting quantitative research. Experience with statistical software desired.
• Familiarity with current issues, actors and debates in global education
• Proven ability to be a team player and to successfully manage multiple and changing priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, all while maintaining a good sense of humor.
• Outstanding organization and time management skills, with an attention to detail.
• Essential software skills: Microsoft Office (specifically Excel) and Stata
• Experience working in developing country contexts or international education policy -- a plus
• Experience designing or supporting the implementation of research evaluations and interpreting data -- a plus
• Fluency or advanced language capabilities in French -- a plus

 

Graduate Jobs in South Sudan

Looking for your first job in international development? Charlie Goldsmith is hiring in South Sudan;

"International development work is generally best done by people of the country in question: there is no shortage of talent in and from any of Somalia, South Sudan, DRC, or any other FCAS place you might name, only the conditions in which it might be deployed and developed. 

But there is still a role in development work for people from the Global North if they have the right skills, the humility, understanding and connection to apply them well where they are sent, and hopefully the intention to continue to apply them in this work for the medium term. That doesn’t just mean water engineers and hard-bitten Treasury hands, it can also mean the high-achieving, high-potential generalists/fast-streamers that any organisation, the world over, would be glad to have. 

But for those bright young people, getting into international development is not always straightforward: it can seem unwise to set off to a fragile state with no particular fixed plan, as many of those now working in this sector first did; getting to, and staying in, some of the places we work is expensive even if you do have systems already set up, let alone if you’re doing this the first time, straight out of College. 

This Autumn, we are therefore going to be looking to hire up to six CGA Fellows to send to South Sudan, who will be either immediate or fairly recent graduates."

How to switch careers into international development

A 6-part guide from Rachel Strohm (formerly of IPA and other things):

1. What is development
2. What interests you
3. Building transferable skills
4. Unpaid internships
5. What to do if you can't go unpaid
6. CVs and cover letters

And whilst I'm on the subject - a plug for an exciting new job for a social science PhD to work with OPM and the University of Bath to develop better ways of integrating quantitative and qualitative methods in development policy impact evaluation.

Chart of the Day: What do Africans think their governments should be doing?

Afrobarometer asked over 33,000 Africans between 2010 and 2012 what the most important problem facing their country that government should address is. Here are their answers. With apologies for the tiny font, but it's worth reading down the full list (I left off a few of the country-specific responses at the bottom).

Data from: Benin 2012, Botswana 2012, Burkina Faso 2012, Burundi 2012, Cape Verde 2011, Ghana 2012, Kenya 2011, Lesotho 2012, Liberia 2012, Malawi 2012, Mali 2012, Mauritius 2012, Namibia 2012, Nigeria 2012, Sierra Leone 2012, South-Africa 2011, Tanzania 2012, Togo 2012, Uganda 2012, Zimbabwe 2012 (Base=33598; Weighted results)


I'm quite surprised by how high up water supply is, but less surprised by the top 3 of unemployment, the economy, and poverty. The public policy challenge is still, first and foremost, about broad-based inclusive economic growth. Interesting to compare this with Justin Sandefur's analysis of what African researchers care about (jobs).

The tragedy is that we don't really have a clue what policy instruments can create jobs. For most of sub-Saharan Africa the challenge is a lack of demand for labour. What is needed is a way of linking African workers with consumers who have money - who are mostly in rich countries. This link could come in 3 ways:

1: Trade. Africans stay where they are and export things to rich countries. This one looks difficult in most countries, which are uncompetitive with poor Asian countries in manufacturing, and don't yet have the skills or infrastructure for high-tech service exports. Gains to agricultural productivity holds some promise, but faces serious barriers to getting going.
2: Migration. The Africans come to rich countries. An economic no-brainer, and a political non-starter.
3: Tourism. The rich people go to Africa. Tourism? Really?

There will probably be marginal improvements in all 3 areas, but its hard to see where the really big shift that could get millions of Africans up to rich country poverty lines of around $12.50 per day over the next generation is going to come from.

The very easy to use online Afrobarometer data analysis tool is here.

[and before anyone says it, of course Africa is not a country, but actually the patterns look pretty similar when you look at the country-level data, I just couldn't figure out a good way of showing that data visually - very open to suggestion]

More Disappointing Labour Market Policy Outcomes

This new from Jordan:

Wage subsidies and soft skills training are two popular types of policies that governments are turning to around the world as part of their efforts to deal with high youth unemployment. Our experimental analysis shows these policies do not appear to have had large impacts on generating sustained employment for young, relatively educated women in Jordan. Short-term wage subsidies generated large and significant increases in employment while the subsidies were in effect, but most of these jobs disappeared when the subsidies expired. High minimum wages may be one reason, with firms saying that graduates were not productive enough to be affordable without subsidies.

Groh, Krishnan, McKenzie, and Vishwanath, The impact of training and wage subsidy programs on female youth employment in Jordan

I don't see much cause for optimism in getting any solid positive results from labour market interventions. Am I missing something?

What are the barriers to work for women in developing countries?

Bob Rijkers and Rita Costa have a really interesting recent paper looking at gender differences in rural employment in developing countries, something I've been thinking about a lot in Rwanda over the last 3 months. In Rwanda the government has an ambitious goal to increase off-farm employment, and if this goal is to be reached there needs to be a big shift in female employment. Young women are currently much less likely to start their own businesses than men, and more likely to get "stuck" at home or running the family farm. 

Bob and Rita document that in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka, women are also much less likely to establish a rural non-farm business, and that the businesses they do establish are less productive.

The reason that the businesses are less productive is not down to education or access to capital, but the sectors that these businesses are in. And this is where their quantitative story ends. They conclude that "Collecting panel data would help us better understand the causal mechanisms underlying the patterns documented in this paper and would permit a richer representation of the dynamics of rural labor markets"

But actually I think some qualitative work could get you a lot further a lot faster on those crucial policy questions of why women are less likely to start a business and why, when they go, it is in a less profitable sector.

An American who worked in Rwanda for several few years told me that teenage girls often aren't allowed out of the house as much as boys, for both security reasons and that they have more housework duties. Which means they get less exposure to the people and places around them, and less chance to think about what kind of market opportunities there are out there.

I also think that there is a strong cultural element around gender norms and what kind of work is acceptable for women. The New Times in Kigali tells the story of Nadine, one of only four female moto drivers in a city where there are hundreds. She quit tailoring because it didn't make enough money, and now driving a motorbike taxi she takes home enough to pay for rent, school fees, and childcare.

Naturally, challenges have come her way, the biggest being lack of support from some of her relatives who insist she is in a male field. 

“Nobody in my family approved of my choice to be a motorcyclist. In fact, they accused me of being a prostitute because I was joining a ‘male’ job. It was hurtful and discouraging but I decided to go with it anyway,” she narrates.

Presumably actually there is loads of sociological / anthropological research out there on this, anyone got any ideas? In England it took a world war for women to finally get access to "male" fields. What will it take to achieve such a cultural shift in developing countries?

Policy job vacancies, South Sudan and Indonesia

International Advisor to the Presidential Economic Advisor South Sudan (full-time in Juba, to apply send CV to frenchwb at gmail dot com, deadline: 31st of January 2013)

Assistant Consultant, Oxford Policy Managament, Jakarta

Consultant, Oxford Policy Managament, Jakarta

The impact of mining in low income economies

From a new paper by colleagues at OPM with the ICMM. 

WDR 2013: Jobs (but no migration please)

I went to the UK launch of the WDR this afternoon at the shiny new ODI offices in London. The bottom line is similar to but less poetic than something the Nigerian Central Bank Governor said in Oxford a few months ago:

"If a politician tells you that they are going to create a job, throw them out of the window. Fix the roads, fix the power, fix the security, and the people will create their own jobs."

Or in the report's words "Labor policies matter less than assumed" (as an aside, Kathleen referred a few times to this page (38) as their "tweets" which jarred for some reason - but its a good summary of the arguments).

Stefan Dercon had a great line on the WDR as a valiant attempt to construct a coherent narrative from an incoherent literature. He also pointed out the lack of any political economy analysis. Which leads to the obvious criticism about migration.

I thought I'd wait until I'd actually read the thing before commenting, but yeah, its pretty weak. Here is the WDR explaining "Global patterns of migration":

The decline of transportation costs, the growth of Persian Gulf economies following surges in oil prices, and the entry into world markets of developing countries with large populations have all stimulated a surge of migrant workers worldwide. 

Differences in expected earnings between the country of origin and the country of destination are an important reason for people to migrate. Earnings gains, however, are offset to varying degrees by the direct costs of migration (such as transportation fees and intermediation services) as well as by indirect costs associated with the difficulties of adapting to a different culture and society and leaving family and friends behind. These costs also help explain aggregate migration flows.

As well as those "costs" there's also the whole global apartheid thing, in which a person's right to choose where to live and work is determined by the country of their birth and not by their talents or aspirations. There are 700 million people who would like to permanently move to another country - including over 38% of the population in every sub-Saharan African country surveyed (the WDR does cite the Gallup World Poll, just not this particular finding).

Gabriel Demombynes notes that the 2009 WDR (Economic geography) was much stronger on migration. As from a quick glance was the 1995 WDR (Workers in an integrating world). Perhaps the problem is just fatigue?

How to get a job at UNDP

Apparently don't bother doing anything as absurd as actually applying for one on their website. From the DevEx LinkedIn forum:

SK: Is there anyone in this group who was successful in getting an assignment by applying in the UNDP website? 

GP: Not so far. I was working in Kabul earlier this year, and was then invited to fill out the paperwork to join a pre-approved list of consultants. 

SK: Ya that's what I thought. I don't think anyone ever gets a job through that website. It is such a ripoff. The World Bank is far more transparent and fair in employing consultants. 

TN: I feel that a proportion of the advertised roles are already filled by the previous incumbent. It is possible that their contract is up for renewal and UN rules require that the position be advertised. I hope I'm wrong, but this process puts an awful lot of people to an unnecessary inconvenience, and for nothing. 

SK: Also they need a minimum number of application to go through the process. I'm told that sometimes people do get through the website. So do apply, except that it is such a laborious process. 

JE: I think it is a waste of time and energy applying for many of these postions with UN and ADB as well. People are already in place and the advertisement is to provide the appearance of an open selection process. Unless 'invited' to apply for a specific postion, I personally won't waste my time. 

JML:  I worked as a Programme Officer for UNDP Timor-Leste for 3 years and then had a short-stint in the regional office in Bangkok. I then took a break for motherhood and for the past year have been applying to get back in the game. It is hard. I agree with TN’s post and sadly know it is the case for some of the vacancies. 

SM: I agree to the comments, UNDP must think of refining the process,if they want to keep the already working people, at least they must not waste others time and resources. 

This a double tragedy that they raise a hope for jobless, waste their time and unnecessiarly to show fairness,which in reality .....................they may tell it better. 

SK: Thanks for your responses. I recently wrote to UNDP to highlight some of the anomalies in the application process. For example a lot of jobs will ask for a financial proposal, except that there is no scope in the application format to provide one. The motivation section does not accept more than 1000 characters!

Oxford University Africa Conference [Videos]

Think Africa Press have just posted a bunch of videos from the Oxford Africa Society conference a few weeks ago.

The highlight for me was a quote from Nigerian Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Aminu Sanusi.

[paraphrased from memory]

If a politician tells you that they are going to create a job, throw them out of the window. Fix the roads, fix the power, fix the security, and the people will create their own jobs.

Assistant Consultant Job at Oxford Policy Management

There a few days left to apply for the Assistant Consultant vacancy at Oxford Policy Management in the "cross-cutting" team that I am part of. I can honestly say that it's a really fantastic place to work with lots of smart interesting people (including tons of ODI Fellows) doing all sorts of smart interesting work. From the job ad:

Oxford Policy Management (OPM) is a leading development consultancy with offices in Oxford, Islamabad, Delhi, Pretoria, Dhaka and Jakarta. We provide rigorous analysis, policy advice, management and training services to governments, international aid agencies and other public sector and non-government organisations. OPM aims to contribute in innovative ways to enhance economic and social progress in developing and transition economies, with a focus on the needs of the poorest people. We have worked in over 90 low and middle income countries over the last 30 years. 

OPM is seeking to recruit an Assistant Consultant to work in its cross-cutting portfolio. The cross-cutting team is OPM's entry point for talented and passionate individuals with limited experience or no particular specialisation to work in development consultancy, and progress by either specialising in one of the other technical areas or remaining generalist. Skills are learnt through project work with senior consultants (including overseas fieldwork and ministry work as possible), a year-round training programme, and mentorship from an experienced senior consultant. We expect high performance, and reward it with promotions, salary increments and responsibility. The cross-cutting portfolio currently contains four assistant consultants and four consultants who work on and sometimes lead consulting and research projects across the rest of OPM’s specialist portfolios.

This role is full-time based in our Oxford office and the anticipated salary range is between £20,000 and £23,000.

Closing date is 01 April 2025

For more see here. There are also a few other positions open, including an Assistant Consultant based in Jakarta and a Senior Health Economist.

UNDP is hiring an international fitness instructor for its Juba staff

Update: Samer Abu Hawilih states in the comments that this is "not funded by UNDP or donor funds. This is a staff-led initiative, through the Staff Association and Wellbeing Office." Thanks for the clarification Samer.

"international personnel are placed in non-family posts in South Sudan under hardship conditions, displacing them from their culture and normal support networks. 

All personnel are struggling to cope with the chronic stress of working within a post-conflict environment in which few counseling, social support, and other support and recreational services are available. Of particular concern is the need to help staff deal with traumatic stress, chronic stress, communication and resolution of interpersonal conflicts, multi- and cross-cultural diversity, and alcohol and substance abuse education. 

UNDP South Sudan recognizes that counseling services and recreational facilities and activities should be part of the staff wellbeing initiative. Resolving problems, exercise and dealing with personal and work issues is an important part of a staff member’s wellbeing. Therefore, we are seeking to recruit a fitness Instructor to assist in providing exercises as part of the wellbeing of staff in order to ensure work/life balance, which is another important referral service for staff members."

UNDP Jobs (HT: TvV)

I have no words (at least none that it would be prudent to express here).

Compare and contrast with Oxfam deciding not to use its Nairobi swimming pool because of worries about media and public opinion back home in the UK. Spot the difference. 

Questions to which the answer is no

‘if the reallocation of jobs across sectors, and increasingly countries is happening quicker and quicker, due to the exponential growth of technological innovation - then at some point are the productivity gains outweighed by the social damage they do?’

Moussa Haddad, quoted by Duncan Green in an interesting discussion of the new World Development Report on jobs. I'm inclined to think that Duncan is mostly wrong, but in an interesting way. I think he underestimates the insider-outsider problem with labour unions in many developing countries, possibly because of the same rose-tinted view of the history of labour in Britain, which I also succumb to. To be a British leftwinger means to be on the side of unions. But its pretty hard to reconcile the rosy view with the destructive role that teachers unions play in education in India.

He continues...

the team is 100% economists. Don’t get me wrong, some of my best friends are economists (really) and they obviously have to be central to any discussion about jobs. But where are the anthropologists to discuss the deeper cultural and social meaning of work

At which point my eyes glaze over. But don't get me wrong, some of my best friends are anthropologists....

The title of this post borrowed from John Rentoul's meme at the Indepenent. 

How to Get a Job in International Development

I just spoke on a panel to some Yale undergrads on this very subject, along with some real people, as if I was some kind of real person too! Mainly because about 12 of my more accomplished colleagues couldn’t make it, but I will totally grab almost any opportunity to blather about international development.
My main message was basically “study economics.” Not only is it a fun gratifying subject which will teach you lots about the world, and specifically about the question of why some people are rich and some people are so poor, but it also happens to be quite good for getting jobs.
Specifically, economics degrees can get you jobs with the British Government, the Government of Southern Sudan, and Innovations for Poverty Action, just like me, amongst many other glittering career options.
My other message was, “ok fine, if you don’t want to study economics, then a) learn some kind of useful skill, and b) just go.”
“Just go” sounds a bit scary but I know so many people for whom it has worked out, in all sorts of different jobs, and really what do you have to lose?
Thankfully the panel all pretty much agreed. With perhaps the exception of my passion for economics.
For more good advice, go and read through Dave Algoso’s collection of career advice from smart people like Chris Blattman and Alanna Shaikh.