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.