Students' Perception of Ideal Work – an Agribusiness Sector Case Study

Abstract

The article is a continuation of the authors' research on the relationship between the level of education and perception of agribusiness as an area of ideal employment and career development. The aim of this research part is to analyse the changes in the students' opinions depending on the level of education they have achieved (fist-cycle studies and second-cycle studies). A detailed analysis included 29 descriptors defining ideal work, as well as the perception of work in the agribusiness sector as the target workplace. The factographic material was collected by means of an auditorium survey, which proved effective in the course of earlier studies. The data that was collected underwent factual verification and statistical analysis. Based on the study, it was concluded that in the students' opinion, the qualities of ideal work should include the following: congruity with one's interests, feeling proud to do this work and achieving economic satisfaction. A welcome feature of ideal work is also friendly atmosphere at the workplace and the possibility to use the knowledge gained over the school period. The research indicated a change of career plans related to the agribusiness sector, i.e. a stronger tendency towards perceiving it as a stage in developing further career.

Agriculture Industry Workers Perspective: The Attractiveness of Agribusiness as a Place to Work

“…This implied that all industries in agriculture are equally attractive as it described the extreme attractiveness as perceived by the industry workers. This is in line with the findings of Uglis and Kozera-Kowalska (2019), that without a doubt, agribusiness is a fast-expanding commercial activity in many countries throughout the world. Respondents were more likely to agree with the assertion that working in agribusiness would be an intriguing stage in their career rather than the desired permanent job.…”

Agribusiness as an Attractive Place to Work––A Gender Perspective

“…The results of the Mann-Whitney U test indicated a statistically significant variation in median values (p < 0.05) in the case of traits such as allows you to decide for yourself how to perform your duties (5), involves irregular working hours (7), requires mobility (8), enables you to influence decisions vital to the company (15), and enables you to improve your skills (17). This means that while graduates are aware of the requirements of today's job market, they still have certain expectations related to the ideal job (e.g., if the job requires mobility, they wish to be able to independently decide how to perform their assigned duties).…”

“…The Wald-Wolfowitz runs test also showed significant variation in the mean value of 21 traits (p < 0.05). Only in the case of eight traits (work matching your interests (1), allows you to make full use of all your skills and knowledge (3), involves a high volume and rapid pace of work (6), involves working in an attractive location (10), enables you to influence decisions vital to the company (15), makes you feel supported by colleagues (23), provides a sense of belonging and integration with the team (25), characterized by high social prestige (27)) was the influence of gender not confirmed. As a workplace characteristics evaluation determinant, gender was found to be important for such characteristics as ease of commuting (9), wage conditions ( 14), skill improvement opportunities (17), development both inside and outside the workplace (18), and the relation between the company's activities and the local environment (29).…”

“…Therefore, the final stage of the study involved an attempt to determine the impact that the intention to start one's own business has on the way the respondents perceive the characteristics of an ideal job, irrespective of gender. The Mann-Whitney U test showed that the intention to become self-employed influenced the evaluation of as many as nine characteristics, i.e., work matching one's interests (1), high task variability (4), ability to decide on how to perform one's duties (5), irregular working hours (7), mobility requirements (8), having a say in decisions vital for the company (15), work related to offering high-quality products/services (26), job providing high social prestige (27) and sense of pride in the work performed (28) (these characteristics were statistically significant (p < 0.05) and were characterised by variation in median values). At the same time, when analysing the traits studied in terms of the average value, it was determined that they differed significantly only in the case of trait (15), i.e., having a say in decisions vital for the company.…”

“…Additionally, the analysis was performed from a gender perspective to attempt to determine the extent to which graduates of different genders are interested in entering the food economy market (including taking up one of the occupations listed in the study). According to a literature analysis [11][12][13][14][15], the following research hypotheses were adopted in the study:…”