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Empowering Employability: Voices of Black Women Leveraging Community Cultural Wealth in an Undergraduate Agricultural Program
No full textAcross the nation, agricultural industry professionals have bemoaned the shortage of qualified professionals, expressing an expanding need for graduates with a blend of discipline-specific and employability skills to advance the sector. Research indicates that the future of the US agriculture sector hinges on a diverse and skilled workforce. Yet, a paucity of literature exists on Black women\u27s enduring legacy, experiences, and how they understand and develop 21st-century critical transferable professional competencies needed to address complex challenges in modern agriculture. Black women have a long tradition in agriculture and a wealth of cultural knowledge, skills and innovations that are untapped. This cultural knowledge has been historically suppressed and disregarded in the Employability Skills framework, which many agricultural employers prioritize in hiring decisions of incoming graduates. The agriculture industry accounts for over $400 billion in U.S. GDP and employs more than 2.8% of the nation’s workforce. If America is to remain a competitive global leader, investing in all Americans, particularly Black women, must be an integral part of the US response to these challenges.
Much of the debate regarding employability skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills, has been addressed from a deficit perspective. In this research, I qualitatively examined the experiences of Black women enrolled in an undergraduate agricultural program at a predominantly white institution (PWI) to understand how they utilize community cultural wealth (CCW) to navigate their college experiences effectively. Specifically, I seek to identify the strategies and resources within CCW that contribute to developing employability skills essential for success in the dynamic and globally interconnected agricultural industry. The study uses a thematic inquiry to examine the experiences of 10 Black women enrolled in an agricultural program in the southeastern U. S. through a series of three semi-structured interviews, including card and photo elicitation activities. Findings revealed that these Black women drew on multiple forms of community cultural wealth (Aspirational, Familial, Navigational and Social capital) in different ways to support their persistence and development of employability skills in their agricultural programs. The findings also underscore the implications of mentorship and support, and how Black women voice the need for diverse institutional curriculum and assessment practices in agricultural programs. We found that preparing students to meet industry demands not only requires greater collaboration among stakeholders but also recognizing and valuing the skills students bring with them from their homes and communities to the learning environment. This study redirects the narratives about communities of color away from a deficit perspective to aid educators in recognizing how to leverage the various skills, talents, abilities and networks marginalized groups often bring, which frequently go unnoticed and uncredited in the classroom
Examining Student Critical Thinking Dispositions within the College and Career Readiness of Students Involved in FFA and 4-H in Georgia
Get PDFPreparing youth, primarily as they become high school graduates, to be ready to enter college and careers, has been a primary driving force in primary and secondary education for over 20 years. However, there lacks consistency in the definition and of the true idea of college and career readiness in the twentyfirst century. Additionally, there is a lack of research examining the impacts that student involvement in youth organizations has on the development of college and career-readiness skills. One facet of college and career readiness is the development of critical thinking skills and dispositions, which include enjoying solving problems, respecting the opinions of others, and a continual push to learn and acquire knowledge. Due to the limited understanding of the impact of youth organizations, the researcher sought to examine the influence that involvement in FFA and 4-H in STATE have on student college and career readiness and the development of critical thinking skills and dispositions. From the results of the mixed methods study, the researcher determined that involvement in competitions and leadership events often provides students with resources to develop critical thinking skills, and involvement in the organizations seemingly fosters the perception of critical thinking disposition development. However, students were unable to articulate any other aspects of the organization that foster growth and struggled to understand the importance of many of the critical-thinking skills. Therefore, the researcher recommends further research examining the impact of involvement in FFA and/or 4-H longitudinally, as well as repeating this study in the southeast and across the country. Further, the researcher recommends additional support to practitioners from FFA and 4-H, to inform youth in FFA and 4-H why they are participating in events and programs
Culturally Responsive STEM Education: Integrating Mapping Techniques and Drone Technology for Youth
Get PDFIntegrating drone and geospatial technologies with participatory techniques offers a promising approach to culturally responsive STEM education. However, these areas are rarely combined in existing literature. Drone and geospatial education for youth generally focuses on technical skills, while participatory methods in youth-led initiatives often aim to foster community connection and a sense of place. Unfortunately, these approaches typically exist in isolation within youth programming. This disconnect limits the potential to engage underrepresented youth in STEM by not linking spatial data to local contexts and culturally meaningful narratives. By combining these approaches, both technical learning and personal engagement could be enhanced, fostering spatial awareness, cultural relevance, and critical thinking. This article introduces a series of learning activities designed for underserved youth, offering hands-on experiences that merge participatory mapping and drone science. Through community science techniques, youth engaged in activities focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and environmental justice, linking their lived experiences to broader community and environmental contexts. Geospatial technology and drones connected realworld phenomena with digital tools, exposing youth to career opportunities and the practical applications of these technologies
Best Practices for Hybrid Positive Youth Development Programming
Get PDFCLOVER by 4-H is an online learning platform that creates a space for youth to explore interactive learning experiences across a range of 4-H program areas. This article provides an overview of a pilot conducted around the implementation of CLOVER by 4-H to provide positive youth-development experiences in 4-H programming. As a result of the pilot, three distinct models for hybrid program delivery and a set of seven best practices for hybrid positive youth development have been identified. This article outlines the hybrid models that were examined and discusses the best practices for hybrid PYD with examples from the pilot sites to illustrate how these best practices can be implemented in hybrid-learning programs
Item 5: Activity: Identifying Community Needs
Get PDFThis activity cultivates civic engagement and social responsibility. It guides students through community needs assessment, providing a framework to connect with their surroundings and become proactive contributors. The exercise involves students understanding “community,” prioritizing needs, and developing skills in observation, articulation, critical thinking, and decision-making
Item 1: Syllabus: English 3XX: Argumentation: “The Ballot of the Bullet”
Get PDFThis syllabus for an upper-level undergraduate course in argumentation, rhetoric, or communication contains a course concept, assignment descriptions, and a detailed course schedule with readings centering Malcolm X’s provocative ultimatum of “the ballot or the bullet” as the way forward for African American liberation and a functioning American democracy. The first half of the course provides students with a foundation in core theories and concepts of argumentation, and the second half of the course asks them to apply them by participating in public address, deliberation, and debate in the class and out in the world
Item 4: Activity 3: Your Declaration of Civic Engagement Values and Principles
Get PDFThe purpose of this activity is to help students develop critical thinking skills about civic engagement by analyzing both successful elements and limitations of common service approaches. Using Robert Egger\u27s story as an example, students share their own experiences with community engagement. Students identify positive elements and critiques of typical community engagement projects and collaboratively establish a statement of values and principles that address these concerns
Item 8: Activity 3: Civic Engagement in the News – A Scaffolded, Multimodal Discussion Assignmen
No full textThis civic inquiry activity invites students to select a recent news story and analyze how individuals or communities engaged civically in response. Students assess strategies, barriers, and power dynamics using a structured template. They may submit work in written, audio, or visual formats. Peer replies are scaffolded to support civic discourse and listening. Optional AI-supported paths allow students to brainstorm or organize their ideas using generative tools, followed by a required reflection on their AI use. Designed for asynchronous, hybrid, or in-person delivery, this assignment aligns with civic learning goals and general education outcomes
Item 3: Assignment 1: Civic Engagement and Citizenship Matter: Write an Op-Ed
No full textThis assignment allows students to demonstrate active citizenship because it provides students with an opportunity to develop their writing skills by writing a persuasive op-ed about civic engagement and citizenship. American political culture embodies the role of the citizen in the democratic process and writing an op-ed is one way for a citizen to articulate their beliefs about issues in society
Item 4: Activity 3: Surfacing Values Through Moral Foundation Conversations
No full textThis activity explores the concept of motivated reasoning and the moral foundations people hold that make them believe wicked issues are “wicked.” Students will explore their own values and think about how their values change depending on the issue. Students will also practice talking with people who have different values than them on any given issue