Career Preferences and Entrepreneurial Orientation among Undergraduate Female Agricultural Students

Background: The present study was designed to assess career preferences, entrepreneurial orientation and constraints in pursuing a career in entrepreneurship among final year female undergraduate students of agriculture. Methods: The descriptive research survey was used to collect all the required information from the students required for the present study. The statistical measures such as Percentages, Weighted Mean Scores, Correlation coefficients, Means, Standard Errors and procedures such as Mann-Whitney U test and Multiple Linear Regression analysis were employed to analyse the data collected. The Entrepreneurial Behavioural Index (EBI) was constructed based on self-confidence and risk-taking ability of students. The constraints were analysed through Garett’s ranking technique. Result: The present study revealed that most of the final year female agricultural students were from urban background (58%), nuclear families (87%) with below 5 members (89%), education score in the range of 2-4 and with annual family income in the range of 2-4 lakh rupees. Majority of the students were inclined to pursue post-graduate education. The students from urban background had significantly higher family education score and income. It was found that the Food Safety Officer followed by the Agricultural Officer were the most preferred careers. The job security followed by intrinsic interest in work and job satisfaction were the most deciding factors for career preferences. The present study showed that the students were high in self-confidence (0.80±0.01) and medium in terms of risk-taking ability (0.69±0.01) and Entrepreneurial Behavioural Index (0.73±0.01). The self-confidence, risk-taking ability and EBI improve with increase in number of family members and they decrease with increase in family education score. The intrinsic constraints such as fear of loan followed by insecure income, excessively irregular working hours and lack of suitable attitude for entrepreneurship were the four major constraints perceived by the students in opting for a career in entrepreneurship.