Factors Influencing Career Choice Of Urban Agricultural Education Students

The purpose of the study was to identify factors influencing the career choice behaviors of students who graduated from an urban agricultural education program. A secondary purpose was to identify factors that discriminated between individuals who choose careers in agriculture and those who do not. Former students in the study indicated their parents and friends as the individuals most influencing their choice of a career. The events and experiences reported by former students who chose a career in agriculture focused around several themes which included career opportunities, high school educational experiences, and work experiences. Of the former students who did not choose a career in agriculture, events and experiences cited included having other career interests, a lack of interest in agriculture, and a lack of career opportunities. A discriminant analysis procedure was used to identify factors that discriminated between individuals who chose careers in agriculture and those who did not. Findings indicated that a discriminant model consisting of selected factors could not discriminate between former students who chose or did not choose a career in agriculture after they completed a secondary agricultural program.