Profession Perceptions: Effects of Immersive and In-class Experiences on Knowledge and Perceptions of Agricultural Careers

The need for agricultural career seekers is growing each year, yet there remains a gap between open agricultural employment opportunities and graduates of post-secondary agricultural programs. In order to meet this growing need, post-secondary institutions should focus on exposing its students to the variety of agricultural employment opportunities, so that their graduates can make more informed career decisions. This study examined the role experiential learning plays in participants agricultural career perceptions by comparing and contrasting immersive experience participants’ experiences in this study to students who participated in an in-class lecture. The researcher chose Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model and multiple career decision theories to serve as theoretical frameworks for the study. Both groups of participants received positive experiences with the career exposure they had, and called for more similar experiences be a part of their undergraduate coursework. Participants described a variety of learned skills and knowledge of new careers that they had not recognized as potential pathways for their future. The participants in the immersive experience held especially positive perceptions of their futures, and received an impactful experience through this study. Implications from this study suggest that students in the Department of Agricultural Sciences at West Texas A&M University need more exposure to careers through intentional undergraduate programming. Further research should be conducted to determine the needs for career education in other post-secondary institutions in the U. S.