Career Values and Perceptions of Agriculture: What These Gifted High School Students Thought

摘要

Career choice is governed by what individuals value and their perception of the realities that exist in a given field. Agricultural career education of gifted and talented students, therefore, must begin with an assessment of the values of the students, and their assumptions regarding fields within the agricultural industry. This quantitative descriptive study summarized values and perceptions held by participants in the 2006 Virginia Governor's School for Agriculture (VGSA). Originally, the VGSA hosted 98 students; one student withdrew from the program. The results of the study suggest that gifted students have similar career values across variables such as gender, home location, and student organization membership. Their values are very similar tothose of their parents' generation. The results also confirmed that there is still much controversy and misunderstanding about agriculture and careers in the agriculture arena.