Mapping the global health employment market: an analysis of global health jobs

• Published in: BMC public health Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 293 - 9
• Main Authors: Keralis, Jessica M., Riggin-Pathak, Brianne L., Majeski, Theresa, Pathak, Bogdan A., Foggia, Janine, Cullinen, Kathleen M., Rajagopal, Abbhirami, West, Heidi S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 27.02.2018; BioMed Central Ltd; Springer Nature B.V; BMC
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; AIDS; Analysis; Biostatistics; Colleges & universities; Consulting firms; Data processing; Datasets; Demand analysis; Employment; Employment market; English language; Environmental Health; Epidemiology; Global health; Global health jobs; Graduates; Health care industry; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; International; Job market; Job openings; Labor market; Language; Management; Markets; Mathematical analysis; Medical personnel; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nonprofit organizations; Occupational health; Professionals; Project management; Public Health; Qualitative analysis; Quantitative analysis; Research Article; Statistical analysis; Statistical tests; Training; Vacancies; Vaccine; Websites; United States > US; Employment market; Job market; Employment; Global health jobs
• ISSN: 1471-2458; 1471-2458
• DOI: 10.1186/s12889-018-5195-1

Background The number of university global health training programs has grown in recent years. However, there is little research on the needs of the global health profession. We therefore set out to characterize the global health employment market by analyzing global health job vacancies. Methods We collected data from advertised, paid positions posted to web-based job boards, email listservs, and global health organization websites from November 2015 to May 2016. Data on requirements for education, language proficiency, technical expertise, physical location, and experience level were analyzed for all vacancies. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the aforementioned job characteristics. Associations between technical specialty area and requirements for non-English language proficiency and overseas experience were calculated using Chi-square statistics. A qualitative thematic analysis was performed on a subset of vacancies. Results We analyzed the data from 1007 global health job vacancies from 127 employers. Among private and non-profit sector vacancies, 40% ( n  = 354) were for technical or subject matter experts, 20% ( n  = 177) for program directors, and 16% ( n  = 139) for managers, compared to 9.8% ( n  = 87) for entry-level and 13.6% ( n  = 120) for mid-level positions. The most common technical focus area was program or project management, followed by HIV/AIDS and quantitative analysis. Thematic analysis demonstrated a common emphasis on program operations, relations, design and planning, communication, and management. Conclusions Our analysis shows a demand for candidates with several years of experience with global health programs, particularly program managers/directors and technical experts, with very few entry-level positions accessible to recent graduates of global health training programs. It is unlikely that global health training programs equip graduates to be competitive for the majority of positions that are currently available in this field.