Abstract. This paper studies the education-employment nexus in the context of Senegal. Using the 2005 Senegal Household Survey, we find that households’ heads with higher education (lower secondary level and above) are less likely to be self-employed but more likely to be working in the public sector. Disaggregation by gender and location (rural vs. urban) does not affect the results. Besides, female headed households with secondary education and above are more likely to be employed in the private sector. The results suggest the importance of steps for extensive promotion of education (especially for an upward revision of the level of compulsory education) in resolving the persistent unemployment problem and improving the job availability in the private sector.

Keywords: education; employment; Sub-Saharan Africa; Senegal.