A friend pointed me towards this very interesting post she found on the Flourish Files blog. It questions why we have such a low number of people studying Agricultural based degrees at university & raises some very interesting points. I encourage you to visit the Flourish Files blog to read the full article written by Victoria Taylor but here’s a snippet…
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Employment in Agriculture has declined by 24.9% over the 10 years with the proportion of university-trained employees in the industry being 15% lower than the community average. The need to attract more students into agricultural careers is nothing new to those that work in agriculture but it seems not much is being done to address the problem. The higher education base funding review has recommended raising the fees for agricultural courses at university by up to 25%. This isn’t going to help the problem but it seems there are many other points contributing to the low uptake of agricultural degrees.
Why are some Ag Science degrees still four years long? Ag. Science is a complex and technical subject area but computer science, accounting, journalism and even many straight Science degrees are only three years.
Why are so many Ag. Science degrees so inflexible? I accept that Ag Science provides graduates with a comprehensive understanding across a range of disciplines. But why, if a student is ultimately interested in animal nutrition, do some degrees insist they study agronomy for three years before they can specialise?
What is the link between Ag. Science & farming?An Ag Science degree doesn't teach you how to farm, it teaches the science that underpins agricultural production. Some students are therefore disillusioned when they get to university and find the degree is focussed on science, not farming.
Why can’t we retain students in Ag. Science courses? Of all the students that enrol in Agricultural Science only a low percentage graduate. Where did all those young people go? Well, some transferred to straight Science where they had more freedom to pursue their interests, some went home to the farm questioning the degree’s relevance to their family’s operations and some had just changed their minds about what they wanted to do.
Do we emphasis the other career paths that are available to Ag. Science graduates? If a student decides at the end of first year that they don’t want to be an agronomist or farmer anymore, how do we let them know there are a number of other career options available to them? How often do we take the time to engage with young people to demonstrate how rewarding and diverse a career in agriculture can be?
We owe it to ourselves, to protect the investment we’ve made in our businesses and industries and to secure the future of food and fibre production, to support and invest in our young people.
A new group of school-leavers are about to start their Agricultural Science degrees…what will YOU do to keep them there?
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(Written by Victoria Taylor Flourish Files)