Current Research Bulletin

Purpose: This study develops and empirically evaluates a parsimonious model of young people’s intention to pursue agricultural careers. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior and social cognitive career theory, it examines how career prospects, technology and innovation, social image, and perceived barriers shape attitudes, and how attitude and family and social support predict career intention. 

Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected through a structured survey of 407 young adults aged 19–30 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Seven reflective constructs were measured using 28 five-point Likert items. The model was assessed using partial least squares structural equation modeling, 5,000-subsample bootstrapping, PLSpredict, and the cross-validated predictive ability test. 

Findings: Career prospects had the strongest positive effect on attitude (β = .489, p < .001), followed by technology and innovation (β = .339, p < .001). Perceived career barriers had a small negative effect (β = −.111, p = .002), while the social-image effect was not robust. Family and social support positively predicted career intention (β = .172, p < .001), whereas attitude was its strongest predictor (β = .569, p < .001). The model explained 47.8% of the variance in attitude and 39.7% in career intention and demonstrated satisfactory out-of-sample predictive performance. 

Originality/value: The study distinguishes economic prospects, technological modernization, occupational image, barriers, and social support rather than treating agricultural career attractiveness as a single perception. It integrates TPB and SCCT within a parsimonious attitude–intention model and provides empirical evidence on the principal drivers of young people’s agricultural career intentions in Vietnam. 

young people, agricultural careers, career intention, attitude, agricultural technology, social support, PLS-SEM, Vietnam

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