Predisposition Factors of Students’ Choice in Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Resources (AFNR) Courses (Luzon Area)

This study is an inquiry into the motivational, personality, and extrinsic variables as factors affecting students’ predisposition in their career choice for agriculture, fisheries and forestry. It features empirical facts generally reflective of the recent conditions of public and private Higher Education Institutions (as NUCAFs, PIAs and PIFs identified by NAFES-CHED and DA) of Luzon, Philippines vis-à-vis problems and reasons of continuous decline in the subscription of Filipino students for AFNR courses. Subsumed in the notable findings for Luzon area (i.e., most enrollees and their parents are marginalized; most mothers who are mere housekeepers heavily influence children’s disposition; most professional AFNR parents and enrollees’ siblings who are now AFNR professionals poorly influence them to take the same course; scholarship grants or free tuition fee as a prime way out to finish college education; personal ideal expectation of students for the government to provide promising local employment; common social motive to participate in addressing problems on food security for the continuously increasing population; economic motive to shorter waiting time for employment; SUCs feel obliged to expand curriculum offering to non-AFNR courses to survive institutional fiscal constraints; dearth of educationally qualified faculty and administrators; campaign for the AFNR curriculum programs as effective strategy to improve enrolment rate; low passing rate in AFNR board examinations due to low participation rate, expensive requirements of review, generic contents of examination, and deficiency on the quality and quantity of facilities/equipment and library holdings in most AFNR State Colleges/Universities) served as framework of reference for the formulation of proposed education policy reforms/measures and advocacy interventions designed to spur interest in AFNR courses.