Relationship between Students Variables and their Attitudes to Taking Career in Agriculture: A Case Study of the Faculty of Agriculture of University of Ilorin, Nigeria

Abstract

A positive attitude to life or profession has been identified as a means of rapid development. It is a force that compels an individual to go extra mile in any discipline or career of his choice. The purpose of this study is to examine the attitude of undergraduate students in taking a career in Agriculture. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select one hundred and ten respondents across all levels, which made up of 11.8% of the total population of undergraduate students in the Faculty of Agriculture of University of Ilorin at that time. Data were obtained using structured questionnaire. Attitude was measured with a 5-point Likert type scale, while the data was analysed using descriptive statistics and Pearson moment correlation coefficient statistics. The findings showed that more than half of the respondents (63 %) were male, majority (76.4%) were in their twenties. A significant percentage (83.6%) offered agricultural science in their secondary schools, but only few (15.5%) preferred to study agriculture in the university, however, later majority (69.1%) preferred agriculture as a discipline, while 71.8% had no intention of changing to other faculties, because they have developed interest in their course of study. The prevalence factors that influence respondents in studying agriculture were: wide job opportunity in the carrier, room for carrier development, intellectual ability. Pearson correlation coefficient showed a significant relationship between attitude and age(r= 0.23, p <0.05); gender (r= 0.21, p <0.05); level of respondents (r= 0.31, p <0.05) and knowledge of existing Agricultural organization (r= 0.23, p <0.05). Most students did not want to study agriculture initially but later find it interesting. It is therefore recommended that enlightenment programme should be embarked upon to expose undergraduates to the prospect and dynamism of agriculture.

Key words: Attitude, Undergraduate Students, Career, Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture