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ERIC Number: EJ1286754
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Dec
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2578-2118
EISSN: N/A
Entry-Level Workplace Competencies Needed by Graduates of a Community College Agriculture Program: A Midwest Case Study Using the Delphi Technique
Colclasure, Blake C.
Journal of Research in Technical Careers, v4 n2 p3-23 Dec 2020
Community colleges have a strong history of providing vocational education and occupational training to meet changing workforce demands of local industries. In the Midwest, agricultural industries have expressed an expanding need for middle-skilled workers with postsecondary, pre-baccalaureate credentials. The 21st century agricultural landscape has changed as a result of the need for efficiency and sustainability, and resulting emergent agricultural technologies. Community colleges will be integral to establishing a qualified agriculture workforce for entry-level, middle-skilled positions. This study utilized a modified Delphi approach to identify entry-level workplace competencies needed by graduates of a community college agriculture program. Delphi panel experts represented leaders from the agronomy-based agriculture industry within the college's district, and initially identified 87 desired workforce competencies. Fifty-eight competencies achieved consensus from the Delphi panel and were categorized by themes: soft skills (26), agronomy-based technical skills (12), technology-based technical skills (9), agriculture mechanic/operator-based technical skills (3), general technical skills (4), and agribusiness-based technical skills (4). Results of this study can be used to inform community college agriculture program development and can be used as a case study for assessing workforce needs of local agricultural industries.
UNLV Department of Teaching and Learning. 4505 South Maryland Parkway PO Box 3005, Las Vegas, NV 89154. e-mail: jrtc@unlv.edu; Web site: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/jrtc/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Kansas
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A