Students’ attitude towards agricultural entrepreneurship in selected vocational colleges in Indonesia

Abstract

The research analysed attitude of students towards agricultural entrepreneurship and the information access that inevitably shape attitude. Simple random sampling procedure was used to select 210 respondents from three vocational colleges in Indonesia. The research measured the following variables: access to information through classroom lectures, traditional mass media, and the Internet; and students’ attitudes towards agricultural entrepreneurship. Data were analysed using percentage, mean score, and Spearman-rank correlation at p = 0.05. Results show that access to information through the Internet ( x̄ = 3.27) was the easiest medium for students to gain agricultural entrepreneurship knowledge, followed by classroom lectures ( x̄ =3.18) and then traditional mass media ( x̄ =2 .94). Furthermore, students had a favourable attitude towards agricultural entrepreneurship ( x̄ =3.63). There was a significant relationship (p≤0.05) between access to information through classroom lectures (r_s = 0.251), traditional mass media (r_s = 0.156), and the Internet (r_s = 0.280) with students’ attitude towards agricultural entrepreneurship. To encourage the attempt to shape favourable students’ attitudes on agricultural entrepreneurship, it is necessary to optimize the role of schools and the Internet. Thus, it is vital that the Indonesian government adopt this strategy to grow young agricultural entrepreneurs through agricultural education and extension programmes for the youth.

Keywords: Attitude towards agricultural entrepreneurship, Students attitude to entrepreneurship