Empirical Assessment of Career Orientations and Sectoral Preferences among Undergraduate Agricultural Students
Harshika Sharma
Department of Agricultural Extension Education (MSc), SVPUAT, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India.
R. N. Yadav
Department of Agricultural Extension Education (MSc), SVPUAT, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Anjali Pandey *
Department of Agricultural Extension Education (PhD), SVPUAT, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Somdutt Tripathi
Department of Agricultural Extension (PhD), BUAT, Banda, India.
Agantika Gupta
Department of Agricultural Extension Education (PhD), SVPUAT, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Mohd Ramzan Ahmad
Division of Agriculture Extension and Communication (PhD), Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India.
Anjali
Department of Agricultural Extension Education (PhD), SVPUAT, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Nikhelesh Pal
Department of Agricultural Extension Education (PhD), SVPUAT, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This study examined the career hierarchies and sectoral preferences of undergraduate agricultural students across eleven occupational avenues to identify the factors underlying institutional dominance in graduate career choices. A descriptive and analytical survey design was adopted in the Department of Agricultural Extension Education, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology (SVPUAT), Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India, during the 2024–2026 academic session. Eighty final-year undergraduate agricultural students were surveyed using a pre-tested, structured interview schedule. Their preferences across eleven occupational sectors were recorded and analysed using frequencies, percentages and mean-rank scores. The public sector recorded the strongest mean rank (1.97), with 73.80% of respondents ranking it and 41.25% rating it as ‘Most Preferred’, while banking emerged as the leading alternative (mean rank 2.57; ranked by 70.00%). Private-sector roles attracted cautious responses (mean rank 3.16), research and academics recorded a 42.50% non-response rate, and agri-entrepreneurship was sharply polarised (16.25% ‘Most Preferred’; 35.00% in the two lowest categories combined; 32.50% not chosen). Self-employed farming, NGOs, politics, social media and sales management were not selected by 71–85% of respondents. Overall, the agricultural graduates displayed a risk-averse career hierarchy that strongly favoured institutional security. Curriculum reorientation towards commercial risk-taking, improved private-sector job design, and accessible incubation and microcredit support are recommended to broaden the graduate career base.
Keywords: Agriculture graduates, career hierarchy, institutional security, mean rank, public sector, sectoral preferences