Abstract :
Majority of agriculture students in India aspire for government jobs whereas they are not adequately aware about new career opportunities in ‘emerging rural markets’ in diverse industry sectors. The purpose of this study is to address the issues of rising risk of unemployment among agriculture graduates and of fulfilling their career aspirations. Design / methodology / approach: The study is based on primary research covering 157 students from four Agriculture colleges in the Indian state of Maharashtra. We have examined the gaps in career aspirations and career opportunity awareness of agriculture students and proposed a framework for collaborative action involving agriculture universities, private sector and management education institutions. Findings: Majority (55.41%) of total respondents aspired for government job with higher proportions of girl students (62.79%) compared to boys (52.63%). Awareness of all respondents was limited to career opportunities in ‘banking and finance’ and ‘agriculture input’ sectors only. Clear gender-wise difference was seen in terms of their career aspirations, and in their perception of constraints in joining management education. Practical implications : The proposed collaborative framework would help in addressing the need for ‘Integrating agricultural education with job creation’ which is a major need identified by Education Division of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in their National Agricultural Education Project (NAEP). Originality / value : Our study considerscareer aspirations, career opportunity awareness and constraints in management education in a holistic manner, giving due attention to gender aspects, while addressing the larger problem of employment and employability of agriculture graduates.
Keyword :
Agriculture education, Career aspiration, Emerging rural market, Rural management, Employability, ICAR, NAEP