Pearl Kyei a Senior Lecturer at the 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. Beyond her research, she is committed to strengthening research capacity, enhancing statistical literacy among data users, promoting the translation of research into policy and planning, and advancing data-driven decision-making to support sustainable development.
Prior to joining the University of Ghana, she was a Fred H. Bixby fellow at the Population Council New York office in the Poverty Gender, and Youth Program. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Davidson College, a Master of Arts degree in Demography from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in Demography also from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), the Population Association of America (PAA), and the International Sociological Association’s Research Committees on the Sociology of Education (RC04) and Social Stratification (RC28).
PKyei@ug.edu.gh
- Early childhood development and child well-being
- Couple dynamics
- Education quality and equity
- Health systems and policy
- Social mobility
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. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2026.2669275
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. https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12824
Bawah, A.A., Kwankye, S.O., and Kyei, P.S. (eds). (2025). Ghana’s Demography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-00582-3
Kyei, P.S., & Annim, S.K. (2025). Education and Literacy in Ghana: Trends, Disparities, and Implications for Sustainable Development. In: Bawah, A.A., Kwankye, S.O., Kyei, P.S. (eds) Ghana’s Demography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-00582-3_11
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. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021932025100333
Kyei, P.S. (2024). Child fostering and school attendance in West Africa over time. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450128.2024.2389377
Kyei, P.S. & Nyarko, N.Y. (2024). Care-giver child interactions and early cognitive development in West and Central Africa. Early Child Development and Care 194 (3), 414 – 423. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2024.2320883
Kyei, P.S. & Bawah, A.A. (2024). Spousal age differences and women’s contraceptive use in Sub-Saharan Africa. Contraception and Reproductive Medicine. 9 (1), 45. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40834-024-00306-7
Kyei, P. (2022). When boys read better than girls: The correlation between gender disparities in schooling participation and reading performance in sub-Saharan Africa. African Education Review. 18(3–4), 41–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/18146627.2022.2151924
Kyei, P. (2022). Patterns of interethnic marriage in Ghana: 2000 – 2010 Ghana Journal of Geography 14 (1), 125-140. https://doi.org/10.4314/gjg.v14i1.7
Bawah A.A., Biney A.E. Biney, & Kyei, P. (2022). "You can’t look at an orange and draw a banana”: using research evidence to develop relevant health policy in Ghana. Global Health: Science and Practice 10 (Supplement 1). https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-21-00693
Sustaining the African Health Initiative Community of Practice
The Dynamics of Ghanaian immigrants' health in the US: Critical life-stage experiences, social networks, acculturation, and selection project
POPS 603: Population and Development Theories and Policies
POPS 626: Population, Education, and Development
POPS 705: Population Theories and Policies