WHY MORE WOMEN IN MISSISSIPPI ARE NOT MAJORING IN AGRICULTURE
The nature and extent of women’s involvement in agriculture varies greatly from region to region. But regardless of these variations, women are actively involved in various agricultural activities. Women play a significant and crucial role in agricultural development but have been underrepresented for a long time. Historically, in the United States agriculture has been a male-dominated industry. Gender equality is important. Empowering women can change policy choices regarding economic, political, and social factors, and make institutions more representative of a range of voices. Given opportunities women at the local level can lead to greater provision of public goods, such as water, sanitation, nutrition, and food security. Information gathered will be disseminated in the local community and school districts. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate aspects of underrepresented women in agriculture from selected Mississippi counties. It is important to understand why more of Mississippi women are not majoring in agriculture. Data was collected by means of face-to-face surveys. Analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 17.0, 2009). Two hundred (200) participants were surveyed with a response rate of 100 percent. Results indicate that respondents consisted of 90 percent African Americans, 9.1 percent whites, and 0.9 percent other. Fifty percent (50%) of respondents were female and 50% were male. Most respondents stated that more women in agriculture will bring new prospective to the profession and industry.
Keywords: Women in agriculture; Mississippi; Gender equality; Public good; Underrepresented
