Curriculum Needs of Entry-Level Agribusiness Managers in Jamaica.

Abstract

For developing countries, establishing linkages between education and key productive sectors of their economies is a top priority in their agendas for higher education. This interaction is essential to ensure that job requirements are matched by the qualification of job recruits. This study used the framework of job analysis to identify the importance of job skills and personal qualities required by entry-level agribusiness managers and to determine if the curriculum of the College of Agriculture, Jamaica, was providing those skills and qualities. The Agribusiness Management Aptitude and Skill Survey (AGRI-MASS) was used to survey top and middle management personnel in four types and three sizes of agribusiness firms in Jamaica. The order of importance of six AGRI-MASS skill areas were communication; personal qualities; business and economics; technical; employment, work and general experiences; and computer, quantitative and management information. Significant differences in the importance of 22 skills were identified among firms of different types and in 23 skills among firms of different sizes. The most diverse requirements were identified for business and economic skills among the different types and sizes of firms and business and economic skills and technical skills among firms of different sizes. A score of 4.0, established as the minimum criterion for a skill to be included in the curriculum, was met by 66 (89%) of 74 specific AGRI-MASS skills. Most skills in the area of computer, quantitative and management information did not meet the criterion. The curriculum of the College of Agriculture provided training covering 33 AGRI-MASS skills. The area least covered was that of personal qualities and constituted the most urgent need. Technical skills were the area most comprehensively covered. The study initiated meaningful collaboration between the agricultural industry and higher education in Jamaica and suggests approaches for curriculum improvement and additional research.