Agricultural extension students' perception of career prospects in rural development broadcasting

Rural development broadcasting is crucial in the dissemination of improved technology and sustained livelihood among rural dwellers. Agricultural extension students are positioned to become future rural development broadcasters. Hence, the study examined agricultural extension students’ perception on career prospects in rural development broadcasting. The study was carried out in the University of Ibadan, Oyo state. Simple random sampling technique was used to select a total of 170 respondents. Data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done using chi-square and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation. The results showed that most of the respondents were male (51.8%), single (60.0%) with an average age of 32 years. Poor funding of agriculture by government (x =1.64), inadequate sponsorship in agricultural broadcasting (x = 1.58), uncertainty of job availability in rural broadcasting (x =1.56) and poor awareness on career prospects in rural development broadcasting (x = 1.54) were major constraints to students taking up career prospects in rural development broadcasting. Most (55.0%) of the respondents had favourable disposition towards career prospects in rural development broadcasting. Respondents’ age (r=-0.342, p ≤ 0.05), membership of campus press organisations (χ2=0.650, p≤ 0.05) and constraints to career prospects in rural development broadcasting (r=-0.238, p≤ 0.05) were significantly related to students’ perception of career prospects in rural development broadcasting. Efforts should be made by various stakeholders in increasing the awareness of students on the career prospects of rural development broadcasting.