Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The need for more males entering the teaching profession is linked to the idea of the gender gap in school with females outperforming males, and the need for young men to have strong role models. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine factors that influence males to teach agricultural education. This study utilized an adapted version of the Ag-Ed FIT Choice Instrument to collect data through a modified version of Dillman’s Tailored Design Method, with three contacts of a pre-notice letter, emailed instrument, and a thank you/reminder. The population consisted of male agricultural education students enrolled in teacher preparation programs identified through a convenience sample of eight institutions in the Southeastern United States. Descriptive statistics were utilized to analyze research question one and two and research questions three and four were addressed utilizing correlations. Participants in this study tended to be Caucasian, juniors in college, grew up in a household structure that contained a mother and a father figure, enrolled in school based agricultural education programs, members of the National FFA Organization (FFA), most active in career development events, and had supervised agricultural experience. Participants tended to indicate they looked to their agriculture teacher/FFA advisor for mentorship and agriculture teachers were the most influential people in the participants decision to teach secondary school agricultural education. Recommendations were made for teacher educators, secondary school agriculture teachers, and future research focused on recruitment efforts of males enrolled in secondary school agriculture programs.

Year manuscript completed

2024

Year degree awarded

2024

Author's Keywords

Agricultural Education, Males, Teach

Dissertation Committee Chair

Alyx Shultz

Committee Member

Randal Wilson

Committee Member

Kirby Barrick

Document Type

Dissertation

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