Service-learning outreach to attract high school students to degrees and careers in agricultural sciences

Abstract

Given projected deficits and a lack of diversity, there is a critical need to recruit and develop the next generation of the agricultural workforce. The objectives of our study were to evaluate if AgCamp, a one day workshop focused on agriculture delivered through a college student-led service-learning platform: (1) increased high school students’ knowledge of agriculture, (2) changed their interests in pursuing degrees and careers in agriculture, and (3) increased their comfort and confidence in communicating with others in agriculture. We hosted high school students at AgCamp and provided them with instruction in animal science, horticulture, and agricultural mechanics. Pre- and post-test survey instruments were developed and distributed at the beginning and end of AgCamp. Data were analyzed with SPSS 26.0 using paired sample t-tests. As a result of attending this outreach initiative, high school students (n = 26) reported having more knowledge of horticulture (P < 0.01) and agricultural mechanics (P < 0.01), but not animal science (P = 0.12), likely due to greater incoming knowledge of this sub-discipline, as reflected on the pre-test value. High school participants were also more interested in pursuing a college degree (P = 0.04) and career (P < 0.01) in agriculture and became more confident approaching other high school students (P < 0.01), college students (P < 0.01), and college faculty (P = 0.01) involved in agriculture. Ultimately, participating in AgCamp stimulated high school students’ knowledge and interest in pursuing agricultural degrees and careers, indicating there is value in offering youth outreach as short-term programming to attract students to agriculture.