Student Attraction to and Hesitancy about Matriculating in an Undergraduate Forestry Degree Program in the U.S.
Location
LaSells Stewart Center
Event Website
http://uenr.forestry.oregonstate.edu/
Start Date
3-14-2008 2:30 PM
End Date
3-14-2008 3:00 PM
Description
Undergraduate enrollments in forestry degree programs have been dropping sharply since the mid 1990s, causing considerable concern on the part of academic institutions that offer these programs and entities that hire graduates in this field, especially in the light of projected increases in the demand for these graduates. Accordingly, in 2004 and 2007 we surveyed undergraduate student leaders in forestry from around the country to determine what attracted them to matriculate in a forestry degree program and conversely, what, if anything, may have made them hesitant to have done so. The overwhelming reason given for deciding to matriculate in forestry was a love of the outdoors/nature, while the predominant reasons for hesitancy over doing so was a perceived lack of jobs and low wages. These results suggest that today’s students are less idealistic and more market-driven than their counterparts in the late 1960s-early 1970s when student enrollments in forestry were at an all-time high. Such changes in student attitudes and perceptions may require educators to consider mechanisms for marketing their degree programs, and for employers to advertise more widely the availability of jobs and consider increasing salary levels.
Student Attraction to and Hesitancy about Matriculating in an Undergraduate Forestry Degree Program in the U.S.
LaSells Stewart Center
Undergraduate enrollments in forestry degree programs have been dropping sharply since the mid 1990s, causing considerable concern on the part of academic institutions that offer these programs and entities that hire graduates in this field, especially in the light of projected increases in the demand for these graduates. Accordingly, in 2004 and 2007 we surveyed undergraduate student leaders in forestry from around the country to determine what attracted them to matriculate in a forestry degree program and conversely, what, if anything, may have made them hesitant to have done so. The overwhelming reason given for deciding to matriculate in forestry was a love of the outdoors/nature, while the predominant reasons for hesitancy over doing so was a perceived lack of jobs and low wages. These results suggest that today’s students are less idealistic and more market-driven than their counterparts in the late 1960s-early 1970s when student enrollments in forestry were at an all-time high. Such changes in student attitudes and perceptions may require educators to consider mechanisms for marketing their degree programs, and for employers to advertise more widely the availability of jobs and consider increasing salary levels.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cuenr/7thBiennial/Sessions/50
Comments
Session #3: Recruiting and Retaining Students. Presentation for 7th Biennial Conference on University Education in Natural Resources, March 13-15, 2008, Corvallis, Oregon. Featured in the ScholarsArchive@OSU in Oregon State University. Suggested Citation: Sharik, T.L., Frisk, S. 2008. Student Attraction to and Hesitancy about Matriculating in an Undergraduate Forestry Degree Program in the U.S. UENR 7th Biennial Conference, ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University. http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/handle/1957/8332