Factors Affecting the Occupational Aspirations of Agricultural Postgraduates

Abstract

Occupation is the means of earning and aspiration is what we want to be in future. The technical advancements in agriculture and education are providing many opportunities for graduates in choosing their career. The universities of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu and Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), Guntur, Andhra Pradesh were selected through purposive random sampling technique. The sample size was restricted to 50 from each university under study considering the time constraint. The profile characters were measured using frequency and percentage. Descriptive statistics was used for analysis of achievement motivation and information seeking behavior regarding the career opportunities. Variables were categorized measured using mean and standard deviation and respondents were divided into low, medium and high based on the results. At postgraduate level, many respondents aspired to be in agricultural research and in state department of agriculture. The study on factors influencing the occupational aspirations revealed that the job security and parents’ motivation played an important role in choosing their career.