Iyeyinka Omigbodun hails from Ibadan, Nigeria. She obtained her BA in Social Anthropology and African Studies with a citation in French from Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude with highest honours and Phi Beta Kappa in 2016. She then went on to obtain her MPhil in Political and Economic Sociology from the University of Cambridge in 2019.
Research Interests
Iyeyinka is interested in youth employment in Africa. Her current research focuses on youth self-employment in Ghana and Nigeria.
Research Projects
The Social Networks and Job Quality of Self-Employed Youth in Ghana and Nigeria.
Given the current conditions of the labour market in Africa, many young people are self-employed and are working in the informal economy. There is need for a deeper understanding of self-employed youth in Africa so that youth employment interventions can be better designed to support them. How does the job quality of self-employed young people vary so that more targeted interventions can be designed? Which self-employed young people are particularly vulnerable? Furthermore, studies such as Akinwale’s (2012) research on the informal sector of Lagos state have found that social networks provided through family and apprenticeship masters are influential in the career trajectory of self-employed young people. Therefore, there is need for more research into the social networks of self-employed young people so that interventions can be designed in light of this context. In light of this, the study aims to answer the questions: How do social networks shape the transition into self-employment for young people in Ghana and Nigeria and their working lives? What is the relationship between the social networks, the job quality and well-being of self-employed young people in Ghana and Nigeria? This study will provide knowledge that can drive evidence-driven policy approaches to self-employed young people in West Africa. The study will provide insights into the gaps in the social support of self-employed young workers which could become sites for intervention.
Teaching
Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (C-CAMH), University of Ibadan, Nigeria
MSc CAMH Students – Writing a Literature Review Seminar, Introduction to Ethnographic Methods
PGDip CAMH Students – Writing a Literature Review Seminar
Key Publications - Journal Articles
Omigbodun, Iyeyinka. ‘Fighting Corruption in Nigeria: Excessive Rhetoric and Indeterminate Bureaucratic Practices in the Implementation of SERVICOM’, Journal of Contemporary African Studies. (forthcoming).
Key Publications - Other
Omigbodun, Iyeyinka. 2016 “In Nigeria, the intelligent also cry.” The Nation Newspaper
Omigbodun, Iyeyinka. Walking “Good Governance” to Nigeria. Undergraduate Thesis, Harvard University, 2016.
Omigbodun, Iyeyinka. 2015. “Tributes to the Great Amazon: Dora Akunyili’s Story and Gendered Dynamics in Political Leadership in Nigeria.” West African Research Association 2015-2016 Newsletter.
Omigbodun, Iyeyinka. 2012. “The Impact of Reading on the Mental Health of Children in a Low-Income Neighbourhood in Nigeria.” Poster presented at the 18th World Congress of the International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP), Paris, France
Grants and Projects
Trinity College Rouse Ball Research Grant (2019)
Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs Research Grant (2015)
PhD Supervisor
Professor Brendan Burchell
Research Groups & Affiliations
Individual in the Labour Market Reading Group
Awards
Cambridge-Africa Scholarship (2019)
Trinity College Dunlevie King’s Hall Studentship (2018)
West Africa Rhodes Scholarship Finalist (2017)
Philippe Wamba Prize for best final year thesis in African Studies at Harvard (2016)
Harvard Phi Beta Kappa Senior 48 (2015)
West African Research Association Undergraduate Paper Award (2015)
