Factors Which Influence African Americans' Decisions to Choose the Forestry/Natural Resources Management Professions: The Tuskeqee University Case

摘要

This study focused on Tuskegee University forestry/ natural resources management graduates' perspectives about factors which influenced their decisions to choose a college major. The objectives were to describe the factors which influence African American students to pursue degrees in forestry/natural resources management, to identify what demographic characteristics can be used to explain variance in the influence of factors, and to obtain preliminary data that provide insight and could inform the professions of ways to recruit African American students into forestry/natural resources management programs. Data collection occurred via simple random sampling and a survey. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and analysis of variance. Study population consisted of all graduates of Tuskegee's forestry/natural resources management programs. It included those who graduated from Tuskegee University and those who transferred and graduated from partner universities. The female and male graduates responded differently to the variable "financial aid was always available." A t-test of the variable's means was statistically significant at the 0.01 level. Also, the subjects who graduated during the early years of the program's life reported negative experiences with undergraduate academic life. However, when the subjects had positive college community life experiences, their perceptions of the grand overall main factors, which influenced career choice, increased. As the subjects' size of home town decreased, favorable response to the grand overall main factors which influence career choice increased.