Accepted Paper
Paper short abstract
Ghana’s STEM agenda is positioned as a post-aid strategy for national growth. However resource disparities influence access to STEM fields and subsequent employment opportunities. This paper calls for robust domestic institutions for fostering inclusive South–South cooperation.
Paper long abstract
This paper analyzes Ghana’s STEM-for-development agenda as a post-aid strategy to advance women’s economic inclusion, in the context of declining traditional donor support and evolving development cooperation frameworks. In response to calls for decoloniality, equitable partnership, and Southern agency, the study investigates how Ghana can strengthen domestic capabilities while strategically engaging new South–South and non-traditional partners to avoid adverse incorporation.
Drawing on qualitative data from girls-only, boys-only, and mixed Senior High Schools, as well as perspectives from teachers and education stakeholders, the findings demonstrate that national commitments to STEM expansion do not necessarily lead to inclusive labor-market outcomes. Instead, gendered school cultures, disparities in access to guidance and counselling, resource limitations, and inconsistent mentorship structures influence entry into STEM fields, the validation of aspirations, and persistence along the STEM-to-employment pathway. These institutional factors frequently perpetuate inequality, even when policy narratives emphasize empowerment and national competitiveness.
The paper contends that, in a post-aid context, the success of development cooperation, whether through South–South initiatives, regional integration, or blended financing, relies on reinforcing domestic institutions that shape opportunity and inclusion. The study concludes by recommending gender-responsive mechanisms that prioritize local ownership and accountability in STEM cooperation, such as professionalized career guidance systems, well-supported mentorship pipelines, targeted investments in educational environments, and regional strategies that link skills development to decent work. By connecting shifts in development cooperation to everyday institutional dynamics, this paper offers an empirically grounded, gender-sensitive perspective on how Global South countries can reconceptualize development beyond aid.
The post-aid retrenchment era and equitable partnerships in development: Reclaiming southern power and agency