Professor Mohammed Aminu Sanda: The Scholar Who Is Redefining Work Science in Africa

In the halls of the University Of Ghana Business School, one name stands out as a beacon of rigorous academic inquiry, international collaboration, and practical impact Professor Mohammed Aminu Sanda. A scholar of rare distinction, Prof. Sanda has spent decades studying how human beings work, how organizations function, and how the two can be better designed to serve people and societies particularly in the African context.

Academic Background and Training
Prof. Sanda's educational journey is a story of relentless intellectual pursuit across three continents. He holds a Postdoctoral qualification in Human Work Sciences with a focus on Organizational Design and Management from Lulea University of Technology in Sweden.

He earned his PhD in Human Work Sciences also from Lulea University of Technology in Sweden, an MSc in Industrial Ergonomics from the same institution, an MSc in Agricultural Engineering specializing in Ergonomics and Power and Machinery Design from Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria, and a BSc in Agricultural Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana.

This exceptional academic pedigree spanning Ghana, Nigeria, and Sweden equipped Prof. Sanda with a rare blend of African grounding and global perspective, which has become the hallmark of his entire scholarly career.

Current Position
Prof. Sanda currently serves as Professor of Human Work Science in the Department of Organization and Human Resource Management at the University of Ghana Business School. He is one of the most published and cited academics at the institution, with over 109 research outputs to his name.

Research Interests and Contributions
Prof. Sanda's research cuts across a rich and diverse landscape of disciplines. His work addresses some of the most pressing challenges facing African organizations, workers, and institutions in the modern era.

Work-Life Balance and Professional Development
In 2025, he published research investigating the complex dynamics of employees who balance professional responsibilities with academic pursuits, exploring the impact on their work-life quality and knowledge acquisition. Using a quantitative approach, data was collected from 575 workers, shedding light on a phenomenon increasingly common in Ghana's growing graduate education landscape.

Ergonomics and Workplace Design
One of Prof. Sanda's foundational areas of expertise is ergonomics the science of designing work environments that suit the human body and mind. His MSc training in Industrial Ergonomics from Sweden laid the groundwork for decades of applied research in this field across Ghanaian and African workplaces.

Gender and Inclusion in the Workplace
Prof. Sanda has conducted significant research on the politics of employing gender-oriented persons in mine work in Ghana, identifying the organizational and socio-cultural challenges facing them. His research highlighted that despite gender-oriented persons constituting a majority of the Ghanaian population, female participation in mining stood at just 0.6% compared to 2.0% for males, according to the 2010 population and housing census.

He has also researched learning towards enabling work-family life balance for female professionals in Ghanaian organizations advocating for more equitable and supportive workplace structures for women.

Creative Arts and the Global South
He has contributed to advancing epistemology in creative arts research in the Global South, with a critical review focused on Ghana, as well as research on how craft entrepreneurs cope with precocity through spirituality in their creative work.

Urban and Environmental Issues
His collaborative research interests also extend to environmental governance. He contributed to research on stakeholder solutions for combating urban air pollution enforcement challenges in Ghana demonstrating the breadth of his academic engagement beyond organizational management.

National Service and Consultancy
Prof. Sanda's impact goes beyond the university lecture hall. He has served as a Consultant to the Third-Phase Restructuring Programme of the Ghana National Service Scheme, and worked as Design Manager at the Engineering Design Center of the Ghana Regional Appropriate Technology and Industrial Service known as the GRATIS Foundation. He also served as the Principal Researcher in Appropriate Technology for the Afadjato Community Forest Conservation Project, funded by the Ghana Wildlife Society in Hohoe, Ghana.

These engagements reflect a scholar who does not limit his expertise to journals and classrooms but actively applies it to national development and community welfare.

International Recognition and Leadership
Prof. Sanda has served as supervisor and chair for a number of international workshops and conferences, including the Commonwealth Regional Workshop on Tools Development Technologies for Women in Africa at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria; the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management in Macau; and the Congress of the International Society for Cultural and Activity Research in Seville, Spain.

His work has been cited nearly 1,000 times in global academic literature a remarkable achievement that places him firmly among Africa's most impactful scholars in the field of organizational and human work science.

Legacy and Significance
Professor Mohammed Aminu Sanda represents the very best of Ghanaian academia. He is a scholar who trained at the highest international levels, returned his expertise to Ghana and Africa, and consistently asked the right questions how do we make work better for human beings? How do organizations in developing economies grow, innovate, and include everyone?
His career is a reminder that African scholarship, when nurtured and taken seriously, can compete with and contribute meaningfully to the global body of knowledge.

Ghana and the University Of Ghana Business School are richer for having him.

Mustapha Bature Sallama.
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal investigation and Intelligence Analysis.
International Conflict Management and Peace Building.USIP
mustysallama@gmail.com
+233-555-275-880

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