Academic opportunities outside the land grant system: Exploring a niche market for agricultural economics Ph.D. Students

摘要

Ph.D. students in agricultural economics, like any other discipline, face great uncertainty when pursuing academic employment. This is particularly true for those who want to pursue a position that is predominantly teaching. In this article, we explore the possibility of obtaining such a position within an economics department at a non-land grant academic institution. A survey was distributed to nearly 300 economics department chairs or heads at smaller colleges and universities. The results show that although gaining classroom experience of any sort is essential, it is most beneficial for the graduate student to have an independent teaching experience. We recommend that agricultural economics departments implement a mentoring program to guide students in developing their teaching skills.