Educational Equity

Ashesi University sees its purpose as graduating students who have the desire to make a positive impact on the African continent. The university, based in Ghana, assures their graduates have skills that are relevant to industry, moving the needle from a typical employability rate of 10% to 90% or greater.

The leadership of Ashesi University cherish the recommendations that they received from undertaking the Vitae 360° Assessment process. Their areas of focus include a matrixed approach to employer engagement and a goal of increasing the number of female faculty.

Solving the disconnect between what students are learning on the one hand, and the needs of labor markets on the other, is one of the major challenges of our time. To help spark a dynamism between educators and employers that results in positive hiring outcomes, IFC created Vitae.

“We found value in its affirming things, that we had found in our own assessments. The other thing that it confirmed that we needed to increase the number of female faculty. So now, we have about 43% female faculty, and prior to that I think it was maybe 37%. There’s something about someone who doesn’t live your life recognizing something, and it brings it up to the top as a problem that you should pay attention to.”

— Angela Owusu-Ansah, Ph.D. Provost and Professor, Ashesi University