INFLUENCE OF STUDENT AND SCHOOL FACTORS ON AFRICAN AMERICAN ENROLLMENT IN AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE COURSES

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify factors related to African American enrollment in secondary agricultural science courses. Questionnaires were completed by 380 students from Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia high schools. Attitudes of students enrolled in agricultural science courses and those not enrolled (biology students) were analyzed by race. Agricultural science students were more positive than biology students on three attitudinal constructs (image of the agricultural sciences, future value of the agricultural sciences, and the role of significant others on student enrollment). Also, African Americans were more negative toward the agricultural sciences than students of other races on all three constructs. Three variables (gender, future value, and teacher attitude) explained 24% of the variance in students’ enrollment decisions. Students who were males, positive about the future value of the agricultural sciences, and who were enrolled in schools that had a agricultural science teacher with positive attitudes toward teaching tended to enroll in agricultural science courses.