Judging Category
Observational Research
Student Rank
Graduate
College
Agriculture
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Nina Crutchfield, ncrutchfield@astate.edu
Description
The future of agriculture depends on what motivates today’s student to pursue careers in production agriculture. This study identifies key drivers of career intention among College of Agricultural students at A-State using an extended Theory of Planned Behavior framework. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The model explained a substantial 74.2% of the variance in agricultural career intention. Results revealed that Career Planning was the strongest positive predictor, followed by Attitude Towards Agriculture and Perceived Value. Interestingly, factors such as Perceived Behavioral Control, Subjective Norms, and access to Facilities and Resources were not significant predictors in this context. These findings highlight the important role of structured career guidance and value perception in shaping student trajectories. These findings show that efforts focused on career clarity, positive perceptions, and clear communication of agriculture’s value may be the most effective in encouraging students to pursue careers in production agriculture. Based on this study’s findings, it is recommended that the College of Agriculture's future research should focus on how early career outreach influences high school students’ interest in production agriculture.
Disciplines
Agricultural Education | Applied Behavior Analysis | Civic and Community Engagement | Cognitive Psychology | Community Psychology | Experimental Analysis of Behavior | Multicultural Psychology | Other Psychology | Other Social and Behavioral Sciences
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Kafle, Kamana, "Who will grow our food in the future? Factors Influencing A-State Agricultural Student’s Intentions to Enter Production Agriculture" (2026). Create@State. 17.
https://arch.astate.edu/evn-createstate/2026/posters/17
Included in
Agricultural Education Commons, Applied Behavior Analysis Commons, Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Cognitive Psychology Commons, Community Psychology Commons, Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons, Multicultural Psychology Commons, Other Psychology Commons, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons
Who will grow our food in the future? Factors Influencing A-State Agricultural Student’s Intentions to Enter Production Agriculture
The future of agriculture depends on what motivates today’s student to pursue careers in production agriculture. This study identifies key drivers of career intention among College of Agricultural students at A-State using an extended Theory of Planned Behavior framework. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The model explained a substantial 74.2% of the variance in agricultural career intention. Results revealed that Career Planning was the strongest positive predictor, followed by Attitude Towards Agriculture and Perceived Value. Interestingly, factors such as Perceived Behavioral Control, Subjective Norms, and access to Facilities and Resources were not significant predictors in this context. These findings highlight the important role of structured career guidance and value perception in shaping student trajectories. These findings show that efforts focused on career clarity, positive perceptions, and clear communication of agriculture’s value may be the most effective in encouraging students to pursue careers in production agriculture. Based on this study’s findings, it is recommended that the College of Agriculture's future research should focus on how early career outreach influences high school students’ interest in production agriculture.
