JOBS FOR THE BOYS - THE EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCES OF SECONDARY SCHOOL-LEAVERS IN ZIMBABWE

This article discusses the main results of a comprehensive tracer survey of Form IV school-leavers from urban and rural secondary schools in Zimbabwe during the mid-to-late 1980s. The principle finding of the survey is that the incidence of wage employment in early 1991 when the survey was undertaken was much higher than expected. Half of the 1985 school-leavers were in some kind of wage employment. However, the employment experiences of males and females were markedly different, with 50 to 70 per cent of the males, but only 20 to 45 per cent of the females finding jobs.