Careers action plan for agriculture and horticulture
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Agriculture and horticulture careers action plan
Agriculture and horticulture careers action plan
We are co-ordinating an industry-wide careers action plan to improve the careers information available and help attract more people into careers in agriculture and horticulture.
The plan has five pillars:
- Co-ordination: Developing an industry wide coordinated approach to careers
- Collaboration: Promoting ways in to farming and growing careers
- Change: Improving the perception of the ag/hort sectors, and promote the opportunities within them to a wider audience
- Capacity: Updating learning resources – link to curriculum and increase in-person contact
- Communication: Simplifying the careers messaging to careers seekers and influencers to improve overall impact
The evidence
We commissioned Family Kids and Youth (FK&Y), a leading global market and social research agency, to undertake research in 2021 to fully understand what barriers to entry may exist in choosing a career in agriculture or horticulture.
This large-scale survey of secondary school-age children and young adults was completed in early 2022. It also includes the careers teachers and family members that may influence their careers choices.
Download the research summary report.
This large-scale survey of secondary school-age children and young adults was completed in early 2022. It also includes the careers teachers and family members that may influence their careers choices.
Download the research summary report.
Key findings
- Low awareness of the sector in homes, schools and among career switchers, unless people already live rurally and have farming/growing in their extended network
- Dated perception of the sector: careers seekers and influencers held the perception that industry jobs included long, labour-intensive hours, low incomes and a generational natural of farming. This perception is often compounded by a dated representation in the curriculum and media
- STEM connections: very few young people, teachers, careers advisers, parents and grandparents are aware of modern farming and growing and how it relates to STEM subjects - science, technology, engineering and maths). Better promotion of this would be a pull factor, especially around the environment and sustainability
- Lack of diversity: the sector needs to demonstrate wider diversity to help the next generation ‘see themselves’ and believe they could have an opportunity in the sector
- Industry contact: a lack of contact with the sector means many young people in urban areas do not have a sense of belonging in the countryside or knowledge about the way food is grown or reared, or how it arrives on their plates
We are working with
