Unemployment and the attributes of the unemployed in Botswana

Abstract

The 2011 Botswana Population and Housing Census (PHC) indicate that the country’s unemployment rate stands at 17.8% which is signifi cantly high. This rate of unemployment, as is conventionally calculated, excludes the discouraged job seekers and could as such be considered an underestimation of the real rate of unemployment. This article is geared towards fi nding out the areas of expertise (as defined by areas of study or specialisation) most affected by unemployment. This paper is therefore intended to establish the degree to which various areas of expertise are affected by unemployment. This paper uses the 2011 census data and the concepts and variables as defi ned therein. The whole analysis is based on the questions and answers from the census. Of all the unemployed tertiary graduates 8.73% of them were in Accounting. The other most popular programmes or areas of expertise were Computer Science, Typing/Shorthand and Business/Commerce at 7.14%, 6.36% and 5.33% respectively. All these popular programmes were dominated by females at 55%.