Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to assess the level of awareness of agricultural organizations and careers and perceived barriers to enrollment in agricultural programs of high school students in southern New Jersey. The students surveyed were selected based on teacher willingness to participate in the study. Therefore, the results are specific to this sample and should not be generalized to the larger population. The results showed the selected respondents were primarily female, white/Caucasian, lived in suburban areas, and had no family members involved in agriculture. Males were found to differ significantly from females in their awareness of outreach programs related to
agriculture, and the same was found between whites and non-whites. The study also revealed that the selected respondents had a general lack of awareness in careers in agriculture. Three barriers emerged as the highest ranking barriers to enrollment in agriculture programs: lack of contact with program recruiters, interest in agriculture, and lack of opportunity while growing up to work on a farm. Males and femalesmdiffered significantly in their perception of “image of agriculture barriers” and a significant difference was also found between whites and non-whites in their perception of “individual related barriers” to enrollment in agricultural programs.
Keywords:
New Jersey high school students, enrollment barriers, awareness of agricultural programs, suburban
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