Attitudes toward agriculture of minority and non-minority students enrolled in an introductory agriscience course in Texas

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to measure attitudes toward agriculture of minority and non-minority students who were enrolled in an introductory agriscience course in Texas and to identify factors influencing minority and non-minority students to enroll in an introductory agriscience course in Texas. The population of the study consisted of all students enrolled in Agriscience 101, "Introduction to World Agricultural Science and Technology," or Agriscience 102, "Applied Agricultural Science and Technology," in Texas public schools during the Fall semester, 1991. A stratified random sample of agricultural science programs was selected and surveyed using a data collection instrument. Descriptive statistics were used for reporting the personal and situational characteristics of the respondents. Scales measuring reasons for enrolling, barriers to enrollment, and attitudes about agriculture were determined by using the literature, factor analysis, and SPSSX procedure RELIABILITY. Relationships among selected characteristics and scales were determined by product-moment, point-biserial, and Spearman's rho correlation coefficients. Comparisons between groups of selected characteristics and reasons for enrolling, barriers to enrollment, and perceptions of agriculture were made by analyses of variance. The major findings of this study were as follows: 1. A majority of AGSC 101 and 102 students and teachers were White males. Minority students, especially minority females, were underrepresented. 2. Minority students tended to be from non-farm, non-rural areas more so than non-minority students. 3. Minority students had more negative perceptions regarding agriculture and agricultural education. They were more likely to perceive their reasons for enrolling as being out of their control. They perceived more barriers to enrolling than non-minority students. They were also less likely to see opportunities for themselves in agricultural careers or to perceive agriculture as diverse...