Pearl Kyei

Pearl Kyei is a Senior Lecturer at the Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana. She is a social demographer whose research focuses on human capital development in sub-Saharan Africa, with particular emphasis on examining how structural disadvantages shape educational and health outcomes.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Davidson College, as well as a Master of Arts and a PhD in Demography from the University of Pennsylvania.

The project

Title: A Study of First-Generation Learners and Educational Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa

"This project examines differences in foundational literacy and numeracy between first-generation learners and other children across 17 sub-Saharan African countries using harmonised Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) data from UNICEF. First-generation learners are defined as children whose parents have little or no formal education, a group that has grown alongside rapid expansion in access to primary schooling in the region. Despite increased enrolment, sub-Saharan Africa continues to face very high levels of learning poverty, with many children failing to acquire basic reading and numeracy skills. While existing research has focused on wealth, gender, and location as drivers of inequality, less attention has been paid to parental education as a source of disadvantage in early learning. This study estimates learning gaps between first-generation and other learners, assesses whether these gaps persist after controlling for socioeconomic and demographic factors, and examines variations across countries. It uses descriptive analysis and multivariate regression, including multilevel models for cross-country comparisons. This project contributes to research on educational inequality and social mobility by extending the concept of first-generation learners to primary education in low-income contexts and providing policy-relevant evidence on whether expanded school access is sufficient to ensure equitable learning outcomes."

Hosting Institution(s): Sciences Po

Selective Bibliography

• Kyei, J.J and Kyei, P.S. (2026). The Home Matters: Influences of Household and Student Factors on Early Grade Learning Outcomes in Ghana. Early Childhood Development and Care, 1-19.
• Kyei, P.S., Agyei-Mensah, S., Casterline, J. B., & Bawah, A. A. (2025). Trends in spousal age difference at first marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Biosocial Science, 1–17.
• Kyei, P.S., Dzanku F.M., & Annim, S.K. (2025). Changes in population literacy and numeracy in Ghana after three decades of free basic education. Development Policy Review. 43 (1), e12824.
• Bawah, A.A., Kwankye, S.O., and Kyei, P.S. (eds). (2025). Ghana’s Demography. Springer, Cham.
• Kyei, P.S. (2024). Child fostering and school attendance in West Africa over time. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies 1-13.