OCCUPATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES ASSOCIATED WITH PARTICIPATION IN AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AT THE SECONDARY LEVE

The occupational and educational outcomes associated with participation in agricultural education at the secondary level were investigated in this study. Using data from a national sample of high school seniors, this study focused on postsecondary educational activities and job status attainment for graduates who entered agricultural and non-agricultural occupations.;Selected variables utilized in this study were size of community, sex, race, father's education, mother's education, father's occupation, mother's occupation, ability, semesters of agricultural taken, educational attainment, and job status attainment.;The statistical techniques used to analyze the data were chi-square test of independence, analysis of variance, Scheffe post hoc multiple comparison test, and multiple regression analysis.;The major findings of this study were: (1) There was a significant and positive association between the number of semesters of agricultural education training in high school and employment of graduates in agricultural versus non-agricultural occupations. (2) There was a significant and negative association between the number of semesters of agricultural education training in high school and educational attainment for graduates. Less frequent participation in postsecondary programs was found for agricultural education graduates in comparison to limited-agricultural education and non-agricultural education graduates. (3) There was a significant difference in the job status attainment among agricultural education, limited-agricultural education, and non-agricultural education graduates who were employed in agricultural occupations 1973, 1976, and 1979, in all cases favoring the non-agricultural education graduate. Multiple regression revealed that although the relationships were negative and significant, their effects were quite negligible. (4) There was a significant difference in the job status attainment among agricultural education, limited-agricultural education, and non-agricultural education graduates who were employed in non-agricultural occupations in 1972 through 1979. As above, the differences favored the non-agricultural education graduates. Regression analysis again indicated that the confounding variables account for most of the explained variance, with little if any of the variance associated with semesters of agriculture taken before graduation.;It was recommended that: (1) greater effort should be established for selection of appropriate students for agricultural education programs and (2) there should be a more diligent effort in placement of graduates into appropriate training-related occupations.