Educational Progression and Employment Status of Agriculture Post Graduates of Northern SAUs, India

Abstract

India is an agrarian society. Agriculture and its allied activities act as the main source of livelihood for the rural society in India. Today agriculture education in India is imparted at diploma, Undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels. The success of any nation depends not only on the number of enrollment for higher education but also on the professional accomplishment of its graduates and postgraduates. Therefore, the present study was planned to study the enrolment and employment status of the agriculture postgraduates of Northern State Agricultural Universities SAUs. Survey questionnaires were developed to collect primary and secondary data to elicit structured responses in quantifiable terms. The questionnaire was mailed to the students who had completed their M.Sc. degrees. The responses of 2457 students were received. Thus, the sample size for the present study was 2457 agriculture postgraduates. The data revealed that during the five years (2010-11 to 2014-15) out of the total admission of 3716 students in the M.Sc. Agriculture program, 91.57% completed their degree while 8 percent dropped out without completion and only 14 % students were admitted through Indian Council of Agricultural Research-All India Entrance Examination for Admission ICAR-AIEEA (UG) in SAUs against 25% reserved seats. As far as educational progression and employment status of agriculture postgraduates were concerned 54% were employed in public and private sectors, 35% were pursuing Ph.D., while the rest 11% had no progression after M.Sc. Thus the majority of the students were engaged in jobs after completing their M. Sc while some of them did not have any progression.