Factors Affecting Career Choices of College Students ...

[Pages:5]Factors Affecting Career Choices of College Students Enrolled in Agriculture

A Research Paper Presented for the Master of Science in Agriculture

and Natural Resources Degree The University of Tennessee, Martin

Darren Fizer December 2013

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the entire agriculture department for all of their support throughout my career. I would especially like thank Dr. Barbara Darroch, Dr. Joey Mehlhorn, and Dr. Scott Parrott for all the extra time they spent with me during my classes and research project. These three professors have been positive role models and have always been there if I needed anything. I would also like thank my family and friends for always supporting during academic career at UT Martin. They have always been my motivation, and I will forever appreciate everything they have done for me.

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Abstract

Choosing the right career path is becoming more and more important for young students today. Students have to take into account many things when choosing a career and college major. Many factors can influence a student's decision, including parents, coaches, religious figures, or any role models in a student's life. Participation in agriculture clubs such as FFA and 4-H can also have an effect on students' career choices.

The objectives of this research study were to determine what factors affect agriculture students' choice of career path. A questionnaire was developed to examine areas of interest and attributes that may have influenced students when choosing a career path. The questionnaire was completed by 128 students in the freshman studies classes of The University of Tennessee at Martin who plan to major in Agriculture. Chi-square tests were used to examine relationships among study factors.

According to this survey, students are most influenced by family when choosing a major; 22% chose family as the most important factor influencing their choice of major. However, 21% of the students chose "a career that is personally rewarding" and 20% chose "FFA/4-H experience" as the most important factors affecting their choice. FFA played a bigger role in choosing a major than 4-H. Farming background and the size of schools did not play a role in choosing a major. However, students with a farming background were more likely to plan on working in production agriculture than students without a farm background. The students who completed the questionnaire had a positive outlook on their career. Students believe their projected careers will make a positive impact on the world. Students also believe that there are excellent career opportunities in agriculture.

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Table of Contents

Abstract........................................................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents......................................................................................................................................... iv Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1

Research Objectives.................................................................................................................................. 2 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 4

History....................................................................................................................................................... 4 Recent Decades..................................................................................................................................... 4

Popular Career and Major Fields .............................................................................................................. 6 Careers in Agriculture ............................................................................................................................... 6 Factors Influencing Choice of Career and Major ...................................................................................... 7

Interest in Field ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Academic Ability and Aptitude ............................................................................................................. 7 White Collar vs. Blue Collar................................................................................................................... 8 Personality ............................................................................................................................................ 9 Influential People .................................................................................................................................. 9 Family Business ................................................................................................................................... 10 Economic Stability............................................................................................................................... 10 Gender ................................................................................................................................................ 11 Race..................................................................................................................................................... 11 Outside Factors ................................................................................................................................... 12 Factors Affecting Career Selection in Agriculture ................................................................................... 12 FFA and 4-H......................................................................................................................................... 13 Changes in Major Fields .......................................................................................................................... 13 Tools Used for Career Choices ................................................................................................................ 14 Recruiting ................................................................................................................................................ 14 Employment After Graduation ............................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 3: Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 17 Survey Population ................................................................................................................................... 17 Data Analysis........................................................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 4: Results and Discussion .............................................................................................................. 19 Survey Results for each Objective............................................................................................................... 19 Objective 1: Did FFA or 4H influence students on choosing a major?........................................................ 19 Objective 2: How important are classes/job skills to a student's area of study? ................................... 23 Objective 3: What was the most influential factor in choosing a major?............................................... 28

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Objective 4: Did the Size of the Students School play a role in choosing a major?................................ 28 Objective 5: Did growing up on a farm play a role in choosing a major? .............................................. 31 Objective 6: Do students believe they will work in degree area? .......................................................... 31 Chapter 5: Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 33 References .................................................................................................................................................. 35 Appendix A IRB Letter from University of Tennessee at Martin................................................................. 38 Appendix B Survey Questions ..................................................................................................................... 39

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List of Figures

Figure 1. Number of freshman agriculture students in each major concentration at UT Martin, August 2013........................................................................................................................... 20

Figure 2. Number of freshman agriculture students in each predicted career path. ..................... 20 Figure 3. Percentage of freshman agriculture students at UT Martin with ACT scores in the

indicated ranges. .................................................................................................................... 21 Figure 4. Percentage of freshman agriculture students at UT Martin who participated in

FFA and 4-H .......................................................................................................................... 21 Figure 5. Percent of students who indicated that participation in FFA or 4-H influence

or did not influence their choice of major . ........................................................................... 22 Figure 6. Number of freshman agriculture students in FFA/4-H grouped by projected

career path.............................................................................................................................. 22 Figure 7. Percent of freshman agriculture students in FFA/4-H grouped by projected

career path.............................................................................................................................. 24 Figure 8. The most important factor that influenced a student's choice of major,

as indicated ............................................................................................................................ 29 Figure 9. Career choices indicated by freshman agricultural students, expressed as a

percent ................................................................................................................................... 29 Figure 10. Participation in FFA or 4-H in high school, expressed as a percent within each........ 30 Figure 11. Percent of freshman agriculture students who grew up on a farm and who................ 32 Figure 12. Percent of agriculture students who grewup on a farm or did not grow up

on a farm ................................................................................................................................ 32

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Means and standard deviation for importance rankings of college classes, grouped by projected career paths of freshman agriculture students. ...................................................... 25

Table 2. Means and standard deviations for importance rankings of college classes, grouped by projected career paths of freshman agricultural students ...................................................... 26

Table 3. Means and standard deviations for importance rankings of job skills, grouped by projected career paths of freshman agriculture students. ...................................................... 27

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