Factors Affecting the Tendency of Rural Youth to Employment in Agricultural Sector: A Case Study of Beyranshahr, Lorestan Province of Iran

This study aimed mainly at investigating the factors affecting the rural youth tendency to employment in agricultural sector in Beyranshahr region of Lorestan province in Iran. It was a survey and correlational study, exploring the relation between rural youth tendency and the studied independent variables. The required data were collected through a questionnaire. The statistical population included 1404 people of 15-24; among them, 181 individuals were determined as sample size through Cochran formula. Questionnaire's reliability and validity were confirmed respectively by computing Cronbach's alpha coefficient (more than 0.7) and content validity. The data were analyzed by SPSS. The study results showed that the tendency of rural youth to employment in agricultural sector was at a medium level; and based on the results of path analysis, the effective variables could be respectively prioritized as follows: knowledge in the field of agriculture, attitude toward agricultural jobs, use of information resources to increase knowledge in the field of agriculture, social characteristics, economic characteristics, individual characteristics and examples of successful and productive activities in the village.