Career development of agricultural graduates: A gender comparison

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the employment mobility patterns of male and female agricultural graduates. A 30% random sample (n = 5,049) was selected among agricultural students who had attended 1862 southern land-grant universities during 1977. A mail survey conducted with agricultural alumni in 1987 resulted in 2,049 respondents. Findings indicated that female graduates were less likely than male graduates to have entered agricultural jobs after completing college and to have received smaller salaries for comparable employment. Almost onequarter of the women became homemakers, employed part-time, or unemployed, producing a net loss of agricultural human capital.The ratio of employed men and women differs across industries and occupations.' In agriculture, for example, women represent only 21% of all employed workers. They comprise less than 5% of the scientists and professionals in agriculture and concentrate in such areas as nutrition, social sciences, and food sciences.2 John K . Thomas is Associate Professor in the Department of Rural Sociology at Texas A&M University. Jennger F . Cotten and Alvin J . Luedke are graduate assistants who are pursuing master degrees in the Department of Rural Sociology.

U.S. agricultural university students' mental well‐being and resilience during the first wave of COVID‐19: Discordant expectations and experiences across genders

“…These factors may have had a detrimental impact on the career pipeline for women in agriculture and were likely exacerbated during the pandemic. In agriculture, the number of women academically outperforming men has increased along with their presence in different disciplines (Borman et al, 2013;Thomas et al, 1991). Yet, the representation of women within certain programs, such as agricultural economics, remains relatively low (Brevik et al 2018, Zepeda & Marchant, 1998.…”

“…Globally, depression is a leading cause of disability, and suicide is a leading cause of death, for adolescents and young adults aged 15–29 years old (WHO, 2021 ). Prior to the pandemic public health professionals were already observing increasing rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts among young people (Duffy et al, 2019 ; Leahy et al, 2010 ; Winzer et al, 2014 ). These risks were exacerbated during the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic as almost one in four college students experienced moderate to severe anxiety within 4 months of the first shutdown (Fruehwirth et al, 2021 ; Zhai & Du, 2020 ).…”