Employability Determinants of Senior Agricultural Students in Iran

Abstract

Internationally, employability has recently become an increasingly controversial issue in higher education. The emergence of knowledge-based economies, accompanied by the by-products of globalization, has forced agricultural higher education systems all around the world to think twice about the quantity and quality of their courses. On one hand, there has been a surplus of highly educated graduates seeking a career, while on the other hand, potential employers complain of a skill-mismatch phenomenon. Employability is defined as the perceived ability of conquering sustainable employment appropriate to one’s qualification(s). This study evaluates factors influencing the employability of senior agricultural students at the level of Bachelor of Science (BSc) using a descriptivecorrelation survey methodology. A sample of 274 out of 979 senior agricultural students was selected from agricultural faculties of five universities located in the western provinces of Iran through a stratified random sampling technique. Students showed moderate employability levels, which were significantly different depending on their field of study. The path analysis technique revealed that social class, university obligations, mastery in generic competencies, and agricultural background were the most important factors affecting students’ perceived employability, respectively. Keywords: Agricultural student, Educational expectations, Employability, Path analysis.