Influence of Vocational Guidance on Career Choice in Agriculture among Senior Secondary School Students in Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper focused on the influence of vocational guidance on student’s choice of career in agriculture in secondary schools in Benue State. Three research questions guided the study. The study made use of survey research design. The population for the study was 1250 students and 200 agriculture science teachers. The sample for the study was 350 respondents. A structured questionnaire was used for collecting data from the respondents. The structured questionnaire was validated by three experts. The reliability of the questionnaire items was determined using Cronbach Alpha statistics and a reliability Coefficient of 0.78 was obtained. The questionnaire was administered on 350 respondents made up of 150 agriculture science teachers and 200 students of agriculture in secondary schools. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions while t-test statistics was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significant. The findings of the study revealed that crop production, animal production, fish production, snail farming are some of the career opportunities in agriculture. Based on this, it was recommended among others that teachers should encourage students in the choice of career opportunities that are in agriculture for profitable livelihood.