Full-time PhD on Women’s Work and Formalisation in Fisheries

Dieses Stelleninserat der University of Bern wurde von unserem Impact-Team für dich kuratiert.

Warum dieser Futurejob? Weil du hier die oft unsichtbare, aber systemrelevante Rolle von Frauen in westafrikanischen Fischereiwertschöpfungsketten erforschst und echten strukturellen Wandel anstösst. Du gestaltest faire Governance-Modelle direkt vor Ort mit und sorgst dafür, dass globale Nachhaltigkeitsregulierungen nicht am Leben der Menschen vorbeigehen.

---

About us
The Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) is an interdisciplinary research centre of the University of Bern. Its overarching goal is to produce and share knowledge for sustainable development in cooperation with partners in the global North and South.

As a successful candidate, you will be part of the research project Social and ecological responsibility through regulatory governance: Navigating formalisation in West African fisheries (SIRENA), funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). SIRENA examines how formalisation processes driven by regulatory interventions – including the EU IUU fishing regulation and the ILO Work in Fishing Convention – mesh with informal institutions to influence the trajectory of fishing livelihoods, labour conditions, and fish stock recovery in coastal West Africa. Focusing on the differential experiences of male and female fish workers in Ghana, Senegal, and The Gambia, the project investigates how global efforts to enhance accountability in seafood value chains reconfigure local labour dynamics, resource access, and fish stocks. Empirical data will be collected across 14 field sites and ‚gradients of formalisation‘: varying degrees of formal and informal organisation as experienced across sites, actor groups, fisheries regimes, and their interactions.

Within this project, your PhD will focus on women’s livelihood transformations, both in the presence and absence of formalisation efforts. Despite their crucial contributions to food security, social cohesion, and regional markets, women working in the post-harvesting links of fish value chains as fishmongers, processors, and regional traders have received disproportionately little research attention. Similarly, the effects of formalisation processes on women working across different fisheries regimes are not well understood. Your PhD project will address this gap by investigating how, and to what extent, regulatory governance interventions transform women’s work, agency, and access to fish in West African coastal communities, thereby contributing both to SIRENA’s empirical objectives and to broader debates on livelihood transformations and equitable fisheries governance.

Under the supervision of the Principal Investigator, Asst. Prof. Vanessa Jaiteh, and in close collaboration with an Advanced Postdoc (joining from Year 2) and partners in Senegal, Ghana, and The Gambia, you will conduct most of your empirical work at fish landing and processing sites across the three countries. You will be affiliated with the Sustainability Governance Impact Area of CDE at the University of Bern.

Duties

• Conduct a PhD in Geography and Sustainable Development
• Carry out qualitative, multi-sited field research in Ghana, Senegal, and The Gambia, focusing on women’s roles in post-harvesting links of fish value chains and the gendered effects of fisheries formalisation
• Collaborate closely with the PI, Postdoc, and locally based partners; contribute to SIRENA’s joint publications, fieldwork coordination, research workshops, and communication activities
• Present research findings to communities and organisations involved in the research, and at scientific conferences
• Publish results in international peer-reviewed journals

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Human Geography, Anthropology, Development Studies, Sustainability Transformations, or a related discipline. Candidates with a background in Marine or Fisheries Science are encouraged to apply, provided they can demonstrate competence in qualitative research methods and a strong interest in social science questions.
• Solid skills in qualitative and ethnographic methods. Experience with participant observation, semi-structured interviews, participatory and/or transdisciplinary approaches is advantageous.
• Languages: Excellent written and spoken English is essential; fluency in spoken French is required; knowledge of Wolof is an asset, as are other languages spoken in coastal areas of the three focal countries.
• Prior fieldwork experience is highly desirable; experience in coastal or marine contexts is a plus, as is prior research or lived experience in coastal regions of Ghana, Senegal, The Gambia, or similar settings.
• You will conduct extended fieldwork (approx. 6 months) in physically demanding, resource-limited settings. You should be comfortable with heat, long days, and sustained immersion in – potentially – unfamiliar cultural contexts.
• Ability to work in a self-driven, solution-oriented, highly organised manner, with demonstrable active listening skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively within an international team, including relationship building in diverse settings.

 

Your Benefits

• Collaborative environment and ambitious team
  Benefit
• Interdisciplinary collaboration
  Benefit
• Individual career support
  Benefit
• Meaningful work and fair compensation

Other benefits

Your Salary
Your annual gross salary for the year 2026 amounts to 50’042 Swiss francs for full-time employment, including the 13th month salary.

Application and Contact
Location: CDE, University Bern, Mittelstrasse 43, 3012 Bern; with extended fieldwork in Senegal, The Gambia, and Ghana, including data collection in fish landing/processing sites and fishing communities

Start of employment: 1 January 2027

Duration: 4 years

Application documents: Please send your letter of motivation, CV with academic/professional certificates, and contact details of two references (no reference letters needed at this stage) as a single PDF to: personaladministration.cde@unibe.ch.

Additionally, please send us your Master’s thesis (or equivalent) as a separate PDF document.

Apply by: 3 July 2026.

Job interviews: 4/5/10 August 2026.

We look forward to your application! For more information, contact Dr Vanessa Jaiteh (vanessa.jaiteh@unibe.ch).

CDE values diversity and is committed to equal opportunities; applications are welcome from all suitably qualified candidates who meet the stated criteria.
Questions about the position? vanessa.jaiteh@unibe.ch

Themen: Fisheries, Human Geography, Marine Science, PhD, Qualitative Research, Research, Social Justice, Sustainable Development, West Africa, Women's Work