63 Evaluating the impact of a structured training program on university and high school student perceptions of the swine industry and related career opportunities

Throughout recent years, the U.S. swine industry has experienced a severe shortage of labor. As workforce demographics begin to shift, there is an increasing need for agricultural exposure in younger generations. In universities, many undergraduate animal sciences students are only exposed to swine curriculum in their senior year. This late exposure to career opportunities may negatively impact subsequent choice to pursue such careers. The objective of this program, Pork Prospect, was to increase the awareness of swine production and related career opportunities for the new generation of students. The project was a collaborative effort between The Ohio State University and the University of Minnesota. Within the Pork Prospect scope, Swine Discovery Day (SDD) was held twice for students at OSU, once for students at UMN, and once for high school students located across Ohio. SDD was a day-long event featuring educational presentations given by professionals from the swine industry and a tour of a research and teaching swine farm associated with each university. Surveys were conducted using a five-point Likert scale (SDD) and a four-point Likert scale (SDD-Y) before and after SDD to identify if the structured training program changed students’ perceptions of the swine industry and associated career opportunities. Data were analyzed descriptively. Across both universities, 28 university students participated in the first part of SDD and 26 continued on the farm tour. Data from the surveys showed that before attending SDD, 10.71% (3/28) of students stated they would “strongly agree” with the affirmative “I am aware of career opportunities in the swine industry”, while after completing SDD, the proportion of students that chose that answer shifted to 73.07% (19/26). Following the training program, 96.15% (27/28) of respondents stated they would “strongly agree” to “have a better understanding of the swine industry”, in contrast to only 14.28% (4/28) that affirmed having a “good understanding of the swine industry” before the event. A total of 93 high school students responded to the before survey and 80 responded to the after survey. Before SDD-Youth, 18.28% (17/93) strongly agreed with the affirmative “I know about the swine industry”, with a noticeable shift to 55% (44/80) strongly agreeing after SDD-Youth. Additionally, before the event, 13.98% (13/93) of students strongly agreed they “are aware of careers in the swine industry” compared to 42.4% (34/80) following the program. The descriptive data collected suggests that the one-day training increased students’ exposure to swine production and career opportunities, demonstrating the effectiveness of initiatives like Pork Prospect – Swine Discovery Day.