•  
  •  
 

Keywords

agricultural education, enrollment, home location, social class, social stratification

Abstract

Social stratification, potentially, influences the selection of subject areas by students and hence their future careers. However, little empirical evidence exists to show this influence. The purpose of the study was to determine the likelihood of parents’ social stratification influencing secondary school students’ enrollment in agriculture. A semi-structured questionnaire was used in data collection, and data were analyzed using correlational design. The population comprised 1174 form three students, from which a sample of 299 was selected through a simple random sampling. Descriptive statistics were used to identify the social classes of the students’ families, while logistic regression was used to determine the probability of parents' social stratification influencing secondary school students’ enrollment in agriculture. This research involved 248 students, 177 boys (71.37%) and 71 girls (28.63%). The results indicated that a significant majority of the students (59%, n = 146) came from middle-class families. Parents’ level of education, home location, and social class combined were significant predictors of enrollment in agriculture subjects, χ2(1) = 8.43, p < .05. The parents’ social stratification elements were likely to influence their decision to choose an agriculture subject. Students from middle-class families were more likely to enroll in agriculture than low- and high-class families. The schools should also encourage students from low- and high-class families to enroll in agriculture. Further research is needed to examine the likelihood of parental income, occupation, and gender to influence students’ enrollment in agriculture.

Rights Statements

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0

Download

Share

COinS