Working Skills Possessed by Agricultural Education University Students and Career Advancement in Rivers State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to assess the working skills possessed by agricultural education university students for career advancement in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study which adopted descriptive survey design has a population of 86 final year students of vocational agricultural education from Rivers State University, Port Harcourt. There was no sampling since the population was small and of manageable size. Three research questions guided the study. The instrument for data collection was the researcher’s self-constructed 30-item questionnaire. The findings of the study revealed among others that relevant vocational skills obtainable through vocational agricultural education form part of the working skills needed by university students to achieve career advancement in any agribusinesses of choice. Again, the findings revealed that university students need adequate entrepreneurship skills to advance in agricultural careers of their choice. Consequently, it was recommended among others that governments should provide adequate funds for vocational programmes for it to realize its objectives and secondly, university authorities should encourage students to enroll in agricultural education programmes to increase their career choices since it has a multifaceted nature.