Factors Influencing Career Choices in Agriculture-Related Fields Amongst Secondary School Students

Students in secondary schools can choose their careers based on a variety of variables. Due to their tough lifestyle and the pain they endured, Nigerian farmers want their children to pursue careers in industries other than agriculture. As a result, agriculture is one of the professions chosen by students in Nigerian colleges least frequently. This necessitates thoughtful consideration. In light of the aforementioned assertions, this study looks into the social factors that influence secondary school students' decisions to pursue careers in agriculture as well as the challenges they face. The conceptual framework was a synthesis of social learning and social cognitive theories. The study's design was a survey. A simple random and purposive procedure was used in a two-stage sampling method to determine the sample size of 250. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data for the study, and descriptive and chi-square test statistics were used to examine the quantitative data at a 5% level of significance. From the result, a common belief is that individuals are uninformed of the possible employment opportunities available in fields related to agriculture. The result also shows; the career advice curriculum needs to be reviewed to take into account the elements that affect students' decisions to pursue a career in agriculture in schools. There has to be a paradigm shift such that career guidance about the advantages of choosing agriculture as a career is given to students by both the class teachers and the career guidance counsellor.