Do young people engage with formal work that accounts for informal possibilities? This is the primary question behind the Vijana FM resource bank, which collects information about organizations that provide financial and technical assistance for education and social entrepreneurship.
Do we know the different ways in which we can things? As broad of a question as this may sound, there really are many ways in which young people can work officially, even though their backgrounds may be unofficial or informal. I wanted to brainstorm a few of the opportunities that Vijana FM has noted in the past, as well as some that have more recently come to mind. I hope this list exands with a discussion from you, the readers:
- Full-time work
- Part-time work
- Academic/technical research
- Internship
- Externship
- Assistantship
- Fellowship
- Investment (grants, loan letters, or policy papers)
- Volunteering
This list is in a very rough order of the intensity of authority in the workplace. What I think we need in addition to this list is the determinants that affect whether or not someone takes up these positions. By determinants, I mean factors that affect the decision. I have listed a few such determinants that might be considered here:
- Compensation: What does the position pay?
- Time commitment: How frequently and how long am I entitled to work in this position?
- Authority: Who do I report to and work for?
Noting the determinants of each of the work positions above, we can draw up a large matrix of “work” possibilities. A matrix like this – built using a user-friendly and searchable database – could be useful in a market where unthought-of possibilities are needed.
Here’s the catch: How do we find authentic information about what each of positions above in the East African context? For example, I began drawing up a brief table, but I found that there are scarce sources that provide information about salaries per career. The sources that I did find – from the United States – indicate that medical research assistants get paid between $29,000 to $39,000 per year. I doubted this would be the case in East Africa. The problem lies with information credibility. That is, where can we find reliable, true data about work in East Africa?
With such information, I think we could vastly expand the reach of the Vijana FM resource bank, or any other projects working on surveying work opportunities for youth in East Africa.
So, do you think there are more “work” opportunities that should be considered? In what other ways can work be evaluated? Is there anything specific to East Africa that youth can use as a resource to build careers, whether they be formal or informal?
Related links:
- Journal article: Evaluating Work and Comparable Worth (England & Dunn, 1988)
- PayScale.com salary snapshot (Research Assistant, Medical Jobs)
- PayScale.com Career Research
