DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 369 917 CE 066 330

AUTHOR Bakar, Ab. Rahim; McCracken, J. DavidTITLE Youth Organization and Supervised Agricultural

Experience Participation as Predictors of the CareerMaturity of Agricultural Education Students. Summaryof Research 72.

INSTITUTION Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Dept. of AgriculturalEducation.

PUB DATE 94NOTE 13p.PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS *Agricultural Education; Career Development; Career

Exploration; Educational Research; High Schools;Maturity Tests; *Student Organizations; *StudentParticipation; *Supervised Occupational Experience(Agriculture); *Vocational Maturity; WorkAttitudes

IDENTIFIERS Future Farmers of America

ABSTRACTA study examined relationships between career

maturity and participation in the Future Farmers of America (FFA) andbetween career maturity and participation in supervised agriculturalexperience (SAE). The primary hypothesis was that career maturity ispositively related to participation in FFA and SAE. A cluster randomsample was used with the teacher as the sampling unit and 529 highschool agricultural students in Ohio, who were taught by the teacheras the cluster. The Career Development Inventory was used to assess

career maturity; information related to independent variables wascollected using an instrument developed by the researchers. Data werecollected from March through May 1992. Only 495 instruments werecompleted correctly. Findings ind:cated that career maturity wasassociated with the following: participation in FFA, participation in

extracurricular activities, participation in career developmentactivities, grade point average, occupational aspiration, number ofyears in agricultural education, gender, location of residence, and

location of school. Career maturity was not associated withparticipation in SAE, employment experience, type of school in whichstudents enroll, grade level, and parent's socioeconomic status.Recommendations for agricultural science teachers were to encouragestudent involvement in FFA and student exploration of jobopportunities and to help students increase.their career maturity.(Contains 49 references.) (YLB)

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Summary ofesearch

SR 72

-PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISMATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY

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Department of Agricultural EducationThe Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1067

Youm ORGANIZATION AND SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE

PARTICIPATION AS PREDICTORS OF THE CAREER MATURITY OFAGRICULTURAL EDUCATION STuDENTs

Ab. Rahim Bakar and J. David McCracken

Introduction

During the high school years young people faceseveral major developmental tasks, one of which ispreparing for an occupation (Havighurst, 1972).Jordaan and Heyde (1979) have identified twoproblems needing to be addressed by those workingwith high school students. The first relates to thereadiness of young people to make decisions thatparents, teachers, and societies expect from them.The second concerns the need to help studentsdevelop a readiness to make decisions, since often,for achninistrative reasons the decisions cannot bepostponed.

According to Westbrook, Sanford, Mervin,Fleenor, and Gilleland (1988), choosing an appro-priate occupation for oneself has been considered asone of the hallmarks of career maturity. What iscareer maturity? A review of the definitions ofSuper (1955), Jarvis (1990), Super and Thompson(1979), Fouad (1988), Jordaar. and Heyde (1979),Super and Overstreet (1960), Diley (1965), Glaizeand Myrick (1984), and Crites (1964) would indicatethat career maturity is the individual's readiness tomake educational and. career decisions that areexpected of them. Career mature students, asindicated by Crites (1964), have more realistic viewsabout the world of work. They use their greaterknowledge about self and work to take moreresponsibility for their own career planning.

Much has been said about the career maturityof high school students in general. Most studies

have shown tl.at the level of career maturity differsfrom one student to another. Students havedifferent levels of career maturity even though theypossess similar characteristics.

Many high school students enroll in agricul-tural science classes as early as grade nine.Whether or not they choose to enroll will impactupon their career options. According to Jarvis(1990), at grade nine students have not evenestablished a tentative career goal. It may be quitedifficult to make rational decisions about curricu-lum when tentative career goals have not yet beenformulated. Information on the career maturity ofagricultural science students has been unavailablesince previous studies about career maturity hadnot used agricultural students as a sample. Also,the influence of participation in the FFA organiza-tion and supervised agricultural experience (SAE)on career maturity had not yet been researched.Thus, this inquiry was undertaken to ascertain: (1)the level of agricultural students' career maturity,(2) the relationship between career maturity andparticipation in the FFA, (3) the relationshipbetween career maturity and participation in SAE,and (4) other factors related to the career maturityof secondary agricultural students in Ohio.

Purposes and Objectives

The primary purpose of the study was toexamine relationships between career maturity andparticipation in the FFA and between careermaturity and participation in SAE programs

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The specific objectives were to: (1) Describeagricultural students on the following characteris-tics: (a) FFA and SAE participation, (b) participa-tion in extracurricular activities, (c) other relatedschool experiences, (d) personological characteris-tics, and (e) level of career maturity; (2) Examineand explain the relationships between career ma-turity and (a) FFA and SAE participation, (b)participation in extracurricular activities, (c) otherrelated school experiences, and (d) personologicalcharacteristics; (3) To determine the proportion ofthe variance in career maturity that could beaccounted for by: (a) FFA and SAE participation, (b)participation in extracurricular activities, (c) otherrelated school experiences, and (d) personologicalcharacteristics; and (4) To determine the bestprediction equation for estimating the career matu-rity of agricultural students.

Proposed Model

A model of the factors related to the careermaturity of agricultural students is presented inFigure 1. Research summarized in Bakar (1992)reported that factors related to the career maturityof secondary students could be classified underheadings of Personological Characteristics, Partici-pation in Extracurricular Activities, and OtherRelated School Experiences. This research alsohypothesized that FFA participation and SAEparticipation would be positively related to careermaturity.

How might FFA participation contribute tocareer development? The FFA Advisors Handbook(1975) indicated that FFA activities can: (1) fostercareer awareness, exploration, vocational technicalpreparation; (2) encourage students to becomeentrepreneurs; (3) encourage occupational growththrough continuous counsel of the FFA advisors; (4)prepare members for adult occupational responsi-bilities; and (5) encourage occupational excellenceand pride.

Rawls (1982) reported that research on educa-tional and occupational benefits derived from SAEwas limited. He found that parents of agriculturalstudents perceived that SAE programs were benefi-cial to their children in the areas of work attitude,occupational development, and human relations.Pals (1989) reported that the five greatest benefitsof SAE were: promoting the acceptance of respon-sibilities, developing self-confidence, providing op-portunity to learn on one's own, developing inde-pendence, and learning to work with others.

Hypotheses

Two types of research hypotheses, the primaryand control hypotheses were tested. Primaryhypotheses were that (1) career maturity is posi-tively related to participation in the FFA organiza-tion, and (2) career maturity is positively related toparticipation in SAE.

Control hypotheses were that (1) career matu-rity is positively related to: (a) level of participationin career development activities, (b) employmentexperience, (c) grade point average, (d) level ofparticipation in extracurricular activities, (e) gradein school, (f) educational and occupational aspira-tions, (g) socioeconomic status, and (h) age, and (2)career maturity is related to: (a) gender, (b) locationof residence, (c) type of school, and (d) location ofschool.

Design and Methodology

Design, Population, and Sample

The design of the study was correlational. Theaccessible population was high school agriculturalstudents in Ohio who enrolled in the 1991-1992school year. A cluster random sampling procedurewas used with the teacher as the sampling unit andstudents taught by the teacher as the cluster. Thesample size was 529. A sample of this siz. yieldsa 95% probability of a career maturity total scorefor the sample within 1.69 of the population score.

Instrumentation

The Career Development Inventory (Thomp-son, Lindeman, Super, Jordaan, and Myers, 1979)was used to assess the career maturity of agricul-tural students. The Career Development Inventorycontains five sub-scales: career planning, careerexploration, decision-making, world-of-work infor-mation, and knowledge of preferred occupation.The scores of each sub-scale, except the score ofknowledge of preferred occupation were addedtogether to produce a career orientation totalscores. The career orientation total score reflectsthe level of student's career maturity. Thereliability estimates of this inventory ranged from.82 to .87. The sub-scale, knowledge of preferredoccupation, was not used because of the inappropri-ateness of its reading level for students in gradesnine and ten.

FFA PARTICIPATION

FFA participation scoreLeadership positionHours in leadership positionHours in non-leadership positionHours as a member onlyYears in FFANo. of chapter awardsNo. of above chapter awards

SAE PARTICIPATION

Total PMWUSchool lab. PMWUPlacement experience PMWUImprovement project PMWUCrops PMWUAnimal PMWU

PERSONOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

SexAgeLocation of residenceSocioeconomic status

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OTHER RELATED SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

Grade point averageOccupational aspirationEducational aspirationGrade levelParticipation in career activitiesYears in agricultural educationLocation of schoolType of school

CAREERMATURITY

PARTICIPATION IN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

No. of organization students belonged toHours in sportsLeadership positionHours in leadership positionHours in non-leadership positionHours as a member onlyExtracurricular activities score

Figure 1: A Proposed Model of Factors Related to the Career Maturityof Agricultural Students

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Information related to the independent vari-ables were collected using an instrument developedby the researcher. A panel of seven expertsconsisting of agricultural educators in the Depart-ment of Agricultural Education at The Ohio StateUniversity reviewed the instrument for face andcontent validity. Following the recommendationsby the panel, the instrument was improved. Afterchanges, it was pilot tested with 30 high schoolagricultural students from a school that was notselected for the study. A test-retest procedurerevealed a percent of agreement of 85% to 100% formost questions.

Data Collection

Data were collected from March through May,1992. The researcher travelled to most of theselected schools to administer the Career Develop-ment Inventory. The instrument related to demo-graphic variables was mailed to teachers at least aweek before the scheduled administration of theCareer Development Inventory so it could becompleted in advance of the researcher's visit to theschool. A total of 529 students completed theinstruments; however, only 495 of the instrumentswere completed correctly, yielding a 93.6% usableresponse rate.

Data Analysis

Appropriate statistics which included frequen-cies, means, standard deviations, modes, medians,Pearson correlation coefficients, semi-partial corre-lations, multiple correlation coefficients, and KenchllTau-C were used to describe the findings. Datawere analyzed using the Statistical Package for theSocial Sciences, Personal Computer version (SPSS/PC+). Dummy coding was used with nominalvariables to calculate multiple correlation coeffi-cients.

Suirunary of Findings

Participation in the FFAOrganization

The majority (83.4%) of students who partici-pated in the study enrolled in comprehensive highschools. More than one-half (56%) of the studentshad been in agricultural education for more than ayear. More than one-half (56%) of them have beenan FFA member for at least two years. About 65%

of the students held leadership positions in the FFAorganization. On the average, FFA leaders spentfive hours a month in activities related to theirleadership positions. The average FFA memberhad received two FFA awards at the chapter level.

Participation in SAE Programs

The level of a student's involvement in theSAE was determined using productive man workunits (PMWUs) for: (a) school laboratory experi-ences, (b) placement experiences, (c) improvementprojects, (d) crop projects, and (d) animal projects.A PMWU has been defined by the AgriculturalEducation Service, Ohio Department of Education,as the amount of work one person can normally doin one day. Standard PMWU values have beendeveloped for each type of SAE. The PMWUs ofeach of the SAE projects were added together to givethe total PMWU score. The PMWUs for schoollaboratory experiences ranged from zero to 128 witha mean of 4.99; the PMWUs for placement experi-ences ranged between zero and 600 with a mean of10.62; the PMWUs for improvement projects rangedbetween zero and 400 with a mean of 3.74; thePMWUs for crop projects ranged between zero and530 with- a mean of 9.22; the PMWUs for animalprojects ranged between zero and 600 with a meanof 9.49; and the total PMWUs ranged between zeroand 647 with a mean of 35.07.

Participation in ExtracurricularActivities

About 47.5% of the agricultural studentsparticipated in extracurricular activities. Someparticipated in as many as 15 organizations, but themean participation rate was two organizations.About one-half of the students held leadershippositions in other student organizations such as acommittee member, a chairperson, or an officer. Onthe average, agricultural students who were lead-ers of other student orianizations spent 9.2 hoursa month in the leadership positions they held. Theaverage agricultural student spent 8.72 hours amonth in sport activities; however, most of them(60.4%) did not participate in them at all.

Work Experience

More than one-half (53%) of agriculturalstudents worked part-time. On the average stu-dents worked 27 holm a month.

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Activities

Almost all students had participated in careerdevelopment activities. The participation scorebased on the number of activities ranged from zeroto seven with a mean of 3.43.

Grade Point Average

Students' grade-point averages ranged from 0to 4 with a mean of 2.57.

Occupational Aspiration

Students chose a variety of occupations. Most(56%) planned to enter non-agricultural jobs; 25%planned to enter agricultural jobs; and about 12%of the students had not decided regarding theoccupations they were going to pursue when theyfinished school.

Educational Aspiration

About one-third of the students planned to geta college degree. About 26% planned to obtaineducation of less than a college diploma and 28%had. not made any decision regarding future educa-tional plans.

Gender and Age

Seventy-three percent of the students whoparticipated in the study were male and 27% werefemale. The age of the students who participatedin the study ranged between 14 and 20 years. Theaverage was 16.2 year:.

Family

Most of the students (77%) lived with bothparents. The number of siblings ranged from zeroto 14. About 60% of the students had 1 or 2 siblings.The mean was 2.29.

Parent's Education

About one-half of the fathers had a high schooldiploma only. About 9% of the fathers had a collegedegree, 6% of the father had an associate degree,and about 15% did not have a high school diploma.Fourteen percent of the students indicated thatthey did not know the level of their fathers'education. Slightly more than one-half of themothers (56%) had a high school diploma only. Ten

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percent of the mothers graduated from college witheither a master's or a bachelor's degree and 9% ofthem graduated from a junior college. About 12%of the mothers did not have a high school diploma.

Parent's Occupation and Income

The largest percentage of the fathers (21.4%)worked in. jobs related to precision, production, andcraft. The largest percentage of the mothers(24.3%) had a primary occupation as a homemaker.The median income for the father was $32,537. Themedian income for the mother was in the categoryof $25,000 or less.

Parent's Socioeconomic Status (SES)

The fathers' SES prestige score ranged be-tween 15.9 and 88.3 and the mean was 30.8. TheSES score for the mother ranged between 14.5 and77.7 and the mean was 28.7. Both parents' SESranged between 10.3 and 88.3 and the mean was30.4.

Location of Residence

About one-fourth of the students lived in arural non-farm area, 20% of them lived on a part-time farm, 18% of them lived on a full-time farm,17% lived in rural town, 12% lived in a city, and 6%lived in the suburb.

Career Maturity

The publishers of the career maturity instru-ment report norm values by grade level. At thetenth-grade, eleventh-grade, and twelfth-grade,career orientation total mean scores of the sampleof Ohio agricultural students were significantlylower than the students in the norm group.However, there was no significant difference be-tween the career orientation total mean scores ofboth groups at the ninth-grade level.

Description of Relationships

Participation in FleA and CareerMaturity

The following significant relationships exiStedbetween the career orientation total score and theFFA variables: (1) years in the FFA (r = .08), (2)leadership in. the FFA (r = .21), (3) hours inleadership activities (r = .11), (4) hours in non-

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leadership activities (r = .11), (5) FFA awards at thechapter level (r = .29), and (6) FFA score (r = .21).

Participation in SAE and CareerMaturity

None of the SAE variables were significantlyrelated with career maturity.

Participation in ExtracurricularActivities and Career Maturity

There were some significant correlations be-tween career orientation total score and participa-tion in extracurricular activities variables: (1)number of other student organizations (r = .33), (2)leadership position (r = .21), (3) hours in leadershipposition (r = .16), (4) hours in non-leadershipactivities (r = .18), (5) participation as a memberonly (r = .08), (6) participation in sports (r = .12),and (7) extracurricular activities score (r = .28).

Related School Experiences andCareer Maturity

Career orientation total was correlated signifi-cantly with these other school related experiences:(1) GPA (r = .30), (2) participation in careerdevelopment activities (r = .21), (3) location of school(R = .21), (4) number of years in agriculturaleducation (r = .08), (5) occupational aspiration (R =.36), and (6) educational aspiration (R = .39).

Personological Characteristics andCareer Maturity

There were significant relationships betweenthe career orientation total score and: (1) gender(rpb = .25) and (2) location of residence (R = .13).

Discussion of Findings

Participation in the FFAOrganization

Studies have been conducted in other voca-tional areas to determine the relationship betweencareer maturity and participation in youth organi-zations such as Distributive Education Club ofAmerica (DECA) and Puture Business Leader ofAmerica (FBLA). In a study to determine therelationship between participation in the FBLA andcareer maturity, Robbins (1978) found that partici-

pation in the FBLA correlated significantly withcareer maturity. In a study to determine therelationship between participation in DECA andcareer maturity, Connell (1978) reported thatDECA members were significan* more maturethan the non-DECA member in terms of (a)knowledge about the job, (b) making career choices,(c) knowledge about career preparation, and (d)making decisions.

The findings of this study supported the notionthat participation in youth organizations wasrelated to career maturity. Most measures of FFAparticipation investigated in this study were re-lated with career maturity.

Participation in SAE

SAE has long been part of agricultural educa-tion in high school and still is today (NationalResearch Council, 1988). Studies have shown thatSAE was related to the achievement of the student,and has been perceived to be important for occupa-tional development. Phipps (1980) indicated thatone of the benefits of the supervised occupationalexperience was helping a student's career develop-ment. A study by Rawls (1982) showed that parentsperceived SAE programs as beneficial to the workattitude, occupational development, and humanrelations of their children. Noxel and Cheek (1988)found that SAE participation was significantlyrelated to the achievement of students in ornamen-tal horticulture. Even though SAE was signifi-cantly correlated with academic achievement andwas believed to be beneficial for occupationaldevelopment, this study failed to show any signifi-cant relationship between participation in SAEprograms and career maturity.

Participation in ExtracurricularActivities

Previous studies had shown that participationin extracurricular activities was related to careermaturity (Super and Overstreet, 1960; Crites, 1969;Vriend, 1969; & Pautler, 1988). Like those studies,the results of this study showed that participationin extracurricular activities was significantly corre-lated with career maturity.

Participation in Career DevelopmentActivities

Pavlak and Ksunmer (1985) found that theposttest career maturity scores of students who

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participated in a career guidance program andstudents who did not participate in a careerguidance program did not differ. On the otherhand, Fuller (1989) found that students whoenrolled in a career development course scoredsignificantly higher on career maturity measures ascompared with students who did not enroll in suchcourses. This study showed that there was asignificant low relationship between career matu-rity (career orientation total) and student's partici-pation in career development activities.

Employment Experiences

Research findings on the relationship betweencareer maturity and employment experiences wereconsistent. Butler (1980) reported that workexperience related signfficantly to career planning,one component of career maturity. Pucel, et al,(1972) reported that experience in the world of workcould increase the level of a person's careermaturity. Smith (1981) reported a statisticallysignificant correlation between career maturity andwork experiences. Exposure to work experiences,according to Ehresman and Vincent (1976), couldimprove career decision making, another aspect ofcareer maturity. However, unlike those studies,the findings of this study showed that there was nosignificant correlation between career maturity andwork experiences.

Grade Point Average

Franklin (1975) concluded that grade pointaverage correlated significantly with career matu-rity. FrAniclin's finding was supported by Superand Thompson (1979), Butler (1980), Spur lock(1984), Ludmer (1988), and Jyung (1989). Thefindings of this study were consistent with thefindings of these researchers in that a significantmoderate association between career maturity andgrade point average was found.

Grade Level

Moracco (1976) found a significant differencebetween career maturity scores of the ninth-graders and career maturity scores of the eleventh-graders. Other researchers like Watson and Aarde(1986), Achebe (1982), Piper (1985), Franklin (1975),and Mahy (1980) also reported that students in ahigher grade level were more career mature thanstudents in a lower grade. However, Fouad (1988)found that students' vocational maturity did notdiffer across grade levels. Consistent with Fouad's(1988) findings, this study found no relationshipbetween grade level and career maturity.

Educational and OccupationalAspirations

According to Alvi and Mian (1983) and Jyung(1989) career maturity correlated significantly withoccupational aspiration. Career maturity and edu-cational aspiration have also been found to berelated (Leavins, 1982; Alvi and Khan, 1983; &Jyung, 1989). Students who aspired to go to collegewere more career mature than those students whohad no such aspiration (Leavins, 1982). A findingof this study which was consistent with the findingsof other studies showed that occupational aspira-tion was correlated significantly with career matu-rity. A significant correlation was also observedbetween career maturity and educational aspira-tion.

Age

The literature on career maturity has shownconsistently that one becomes more career matureas one gets older. Studies by Franklin (1975), Reiley(1986), and Guthrie and Herman (1982) showedthat age was significantly related with careermaturity. However, unlike the findings of thosestudies, this study of agricultural education stu-dents in Ohio showed no evidence that age wassignificantly related with career maturity.

Socioeconomic Status

This study showed that SES was not signifi-cantly related to career maturity. This finding wasconsistent with the studies by Neville and Super(1988), Howell (1988), Ludmer (1988), Crites (1978),Franklin (1975), and Crosby (1975).

Sex

This study showed that there was a moderatecorrelation between career maturity and sex. Fe-male students scored significantly higher on careermaturity as compared with male students. Thisfinding was consistent with the findings by Franklin(1975), Butler (1980), Achebe (1982), and Westbrook(1984). They reported that career maturity scoresfor female students were significantly higher thanthe career maturity scores for male students.Contrary to this, Achebe (1982) found that careermaturity scores of male students was significantlyhigher than career maturity scores of femalestudents. However, studies by Laskin and Palmo(1983), Neville and Super (1988), and Piper (1988)showed that there was no significant correlationbetween career maturity and sex.

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Location of Residence

There was a significant correlation betweencareer maturity and the location of residence.Students who lived in rural areas (farms and non-farm) were more career mature than students wholived in rural town and urban areas. Jyung (1989)found that the level of career maturity of urban andrural students did not differ. Mahy (1980), andAchebe (1982) reported that urban students hadsignificantly higher career maturity scores thanrural students.

Explanation of Career MaturityVariance

Significant Variable Sets

Participation in the FFA, participation inextracurricular activities, other related school ex-perience, and personological characteristics ac-counted for 37% of the variance in career maturity.

Prediction of Career Maturity

The six variables that could best predict thecareer maturity of agricultural students were (a)number of organizations students belonged to, (b)grade point average, (c) educational aspiration, (d)occupational aspiration, (e) school location, and (f)number of FFA awards at the chapter level.

Conclusion

Career maturity (career orientation total) isassociated with participation in the FFA, participa-tion in extracurricular activities, participation incareer development activities, grade point average,occupational aspiration, educational aspiration,number of years in agricultural education, gender,location of residence, and location of school.

Career maturity (career orientation total) isnot associated with participation in SAE (as mea-sured by PMWUs), employment experience, type ofschool in which students enroll, grade level, andSES.

Revised Model

The fmdings of this study suggested that theearlier model of the factors related to careermaturity should be revised as shown in Figure 2.Only variables significantly related to the career

maturity of the sample of agricultural educationstudents in Ohio appear in Figure 2. Support forthe model may be found in the discussion offindings.

Recommendations

Based on the fmdings of this study, thefollowing recommendations were offered:

Recommendations for Practitioner

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Agricultural science teachers should en-courage their students to be actively in-volved in the FFA organization and in otherstudent organizations. Students shouldexploit the opportunities available in theFFA and other student organizations forpersonal development, educational develop-ment, and occupational development.Agricultural teachers should incorporateteaching about the world of work in agricul-tural science subjects. Discussions abouttypes of occupations, the qualificationsneeded, and the nature of work should beencouraged.Through SAE students were expected tolearn about the jobs in which they wereinvolved. The lack of a relationship be-tween participation in SAE and careermaturity suggests a need to redesign SAEto better accomplish the career develop-ment objective. Before placing studentsinto the SAE experiences, students shouldbe encouraged to explore job opportunitiesand types of projects.Literature has shown that the career matu-rity level of vocational students was lowerthan the career maturity level of studentsin academic programs Yet, vocationalstudents make the decisions that will affecttheir future at a much earlier time ascompared with students from the academicprogram. Since vocational students are lesscareer mature as compared with studentsfrom the academic program, teachers andadministrators of vocational education shouldfmd ways to help vocational students be-come more career mature. This will helpvocational students make more rationalcareer decisions. Agricultural teachersshould work closely with other teachers,school counselors, administrators, and busi-ness people in the community to provide awide range of experiences for agriculturalstudents.

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FFA Participation

* Number of chapter awards (r = .29)FFA score (r = 21)Leadership position (r = .21)Hours in leadership activities (r = .11)Hours in non-leadership activities (r = .11)

Other Related School Experiences

* Occupational aspiration (R = .36)* Educational aspiration (R = .39)* Grade point average (r = .30)* Participation in career activities (r = .21)* Location of School (R = .21)

Personological Characteristics

* Sex (r = .25)p b

* Location of residence (R = .13)

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Participation in Extracurricular Activities

* No. of organizations (r = .33)Extracurricular activities score (r = .28)Leadership position (r = .21) FFA ParticipationHours in leadership activities (r = .16)Hours in non-leadership activities (r = .18)Hours in sports (r = .12)

CareerMaturity

Figure 2: A Revised Model of the Factors Related to the Career Maturity ofAgricultural Students

* Significant semi-partial regressioncorrelationcoefficients with career maturity

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5. The role of agricultural teachers is veryimportant in helping students with theircareer development. Therefore, teachersshould have expertise related to careerdevelopment. It is suggested that all pre-service agricultural teachers and othervocational teachers enroll in career orvocational guidance classes. An in-servicecourse in career guidance or vocationalguidance should be conducted to help teach-ers who are already on the job becomecompetent in helping students with theircareer development.

Recommendations for FutureResearch

1. Thiestudy failed to show the existence ofthe relationship between SAE participaticnand career maturity by using the PMWUsas a measure of SAE participation. Alter-native procedures for assessing studentparticipation in SAE programs should beexplored.

2. This study and other studies have shownthat students' participation in SAE is some-what low. Studies should be conducted todetermine the level of participation in SAE,the implementation of SAE, factors relatedto SAE participation, and student percep-tion about the importance of SAE. Follow-up studies with the high school graduatesare needed to determine how SAE hadhelped them in their career development.As suggested by Osborne (1988), short-termand long-term benefits of participation inSAE should be continually examined.

3. A longitudinal study of the relationshipsbetween participation in SAE and careermaturity and between FFA participationand career maturity should be conducted.

4. Rather than using a large sample, theresearcher may want to consider using amuch smaller sample. By using a smallersample, future researchers can work closelywith agricultural teachers to study ingreater depth the factors influencing stu-dent involvement in SAE and FFA. Onesuggestion would be to analyze the SAErecord book. The goal should be a moreprecise assessment of SAE and FFA partici-pation.

5. Considering the low proportion of the vari-ance in career maturity accounted for by theindependent variables investigated, factorsover which one has control, but have not

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been extensively investigated, should beexplored and incorporated into the design.These factors may include the home envi-ronment, self-concept, how the subjectswere taught, types of courses studied atschools, and the type of part-time job.Career maturity researchers should fre-quently use multiple regression analysis sothat the proportion of the variance ac-counted for by the independent variablesincorporated into the study can be deter-mined. Too often, previous studies have notgone this far. It is not enough just todetermine the difference in career maturityscores and determine the relationship be-tween career maturity and independentvariables being investigated. In relation tothis, future research on career maturityshould include the determination of thecareer maturity prediction equation as oneof the objectives.Further research to determine why thecareer maturity level of agricultural stu-dents is lower than the career maturitylevel of students from academic programsshould be conducted.This study needs to be replicated in otherstates to determine if the findings can begeneralized to all agricultural students inthe United States.A cross-cultural study needs to be con-ducted to compare the level of careermaturity of agricultural students across thecultures.

References

Achebe, C.C. (1982). Assessing the vocational maturityof students in the East Central State of Nigeria.Journal of Vocational Behavior, 2(X2), 153-161.

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SUMMARY OF RESEARCH SERIES

During high school young people face several major developmental tasks, one is preparing foran occupation. Two problems have been identified related to high school students' decision makingThe first relates to the readiness of young people to make decisions that are expected of them andthe second concerns the need to help students develop a readiness to make decisions. Many high schoolstudents enroll in agricultural classes as early as grade nine. How does participation in the FFAorganization and supervised agricultural experience (SAE) influence career maturity? This studyreports research conducted in Ohio that examines the relationship between career maturity andparticipation in the FFA and between career maturity and participation in SAE programs. It shouldbe of interest to agriculture teachers, teacher educators, and state staff.

This summary is based on a dissertation by Ab Rahim Bakar under the direction of J. DavidMcCracken. Ab. Rahim Bakar was a graduate student in the Agricultural Education Department atThe Ohio State University. He is currently Lecturer, Fakulti Pengajian Pendidikan, UniversitiPertanian, Malaysia. Dr. McCracken is Professor, Department of Agricultural Education, The OhioState University. Special appreciation is due to Dennis C. Scanlon, The Pennsylvania State University;Vernon D. Luft, University of Nevada; and Jamie Cano, The Ohio State University for their criticalreview of the manuscript prior to publication.

Research has been, an important function of the Department of Agricultural Education since itwas established in 1917. Research conducted by the Department has generally been in the form ofgraduate theses, staff studies, and funded research. It is the purpose of this series to make usefulknowledge from such research available to practitioners in the profession. Individuals desiringadditional information on this topic should examine the references cited.

Wesley E. Budke, Associate ProfessorDepartment of Agricultural Education

SR 72 1994

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