Examining the Perception of Undergraduate Students Towards Choosing Broiler Value Chain Business as a Vocation After Graduation

Introduction

Chicken meat is an important commodity in Ghana, supplying animal protein to the population, which ensures household food security (Christian et al., 2019; Kwadzo et al., 2013). A significant source of chicken meat is broiler production, an aspect of commercial poultry production in Ghana.

The poultry industry contributes to the agricultural sector’s gross domestic product (GDP), which stood at 2.9% at the end of the year 2024 (Ghana Statistical Service, 2025). As well as a major source of animal protein (Kinsley, 2022). The per capita consumption of chicken meat in Ghana increased from 1 to 6 kg from 1990 to 2015. However, most of the chicken meat supply in Ghana is through importation (Sumberg, Yeboah et al., 2017). According to Taylor (2024), chicken meat imports into Ghana formed 85% of the total consumed chicken meat in 2020.

The waste generated through broiler production (litter) and processing (furthers, viscera, and waste water) can be used to fertilise crops or sold to manufacturers of biofertilizers (Boimah et al., 2022). Additionally, an increase in chicken meat production in Ghana would expand the demand for maize and soybeans for feed formulation. This would benefit smallholder and large-scale crop farmers and increase economic activities in processing, packaging, and transportation (Amanor-Boadu et al., 2016; Andam et al., 2017).

This would create employment opportunities for the youth, particularly graduates from tertiary institutions in Ghana, as government sector employment opportunities have experienced a steep decline (Baah-Boateng, 2013), resulting in a quarter of Ghanaian youth being unemployed (Ghana Statistical Service, 2023). At the same time, Ghana is experiencing a youth bulge with 56% of the country’s population under the age of 25 years old (United Nations Children’s Fund, 2022). The need to explore employment opportunities in agricultural value chains, such as the broiler value chain (BVC), has become imperative to enable students to take up roles as business owners or employees in the BVC after graduation.

However, Tuoho (2023) have reported a trend that shows actors in Ghana’s broiler value chain are ageing; for instance, the average age of broiler producers was 48, poultry processors 47, and live bird sellers was 45. This creates an uncertain future for the industry in terms of sustainability. The objective of this study, therefore, is to examine the perception of undergraduate students towards choosing a broiler value chain business as a vocation after graduation.

The Government of Ghana (GoG) and other development partners in the country are making efforts at equipping the graduates of Ghanaian tertiary institutions with training, and in some instances, with additional capital support to enable the graduates to take up roles in agricultural value chains (Mastercard Foundation, 2024; National Youth Authority, 2025). To address unemployment, reduce import bills in the chicken meat sector, and increase the involvement of young people in sectors such as the broiler value chain. Students in Ghanaian tertiary institutions are mostly within the age bracket of 18 to 35 years, which is considered as youth age bracket in Ghana (Ministry of Youth and Sports, 2010).

The programmes by GoG and development partners towards increasing the involvement of young people in agricultural value chains have been criticised for lacking empirical and theoretical bases. This also comes against the backdrop of the falling growth rate in the agriculture sector. As such would require consistent strategic efforts to promote the sector as an avenue of employment for young people (Sumberg et al., 2012; United Nations Children’s Fund, 2022).

Similarly, youth’s perception towards agribusiness or agriculture is reported to influence their participation in agriculture (Ruiz Salvago et al., 2019), with literature on this topic suggesting that in Ghana, as in many other developing countries, the youth do not have an interest in agriculture as a means of self-employment (Leavy & Hossain, 2014; Mwaura et al., 2015; Okali & Sumberg, 2012; Sumberg & Okali, 2013; Sumberg, Yeboah et al., 2017; United Nations Children’s Fund, 2022; White, 2012).

Additionally, there have been some studies that have looked at the influence of perception on the engagement of the youth in agriculture by taking up employment or setting up businesses in the sector (Metelerkamp et al., 2019). For instance, Bosompem et al. (2017) examined the willingness of undergraduate students to venture into agribusiness in Ghana. Kodom et al. (2022) also assessed the perception and attitudes of youth involvement in cocoa farming in Ghana. While Kodom et al. (2022) was commodity specific, thus cocoa, the study by Bosompem et al. (2017) was agriculture in general.

Fanatico et al. (2025) reported on sustainable poultry education for undergraduate students that was aimed at designing learning materials to improve the theory and practical components of poultry production by students. While Meyer and Bobeck (2023) studied how undergraduate students taking a poultry science course, their backgrounds and demographics affect their perception of animal production. None of these studies focussed on undergraduate students’ perception of engaging in the BVC after graduation. This has created a gap in the literature. Hence, the literature on the measurement of the influence of perception on the choice of final-year undergraduate students to engage in the activities of the BVC as a vocation after graduation is limited. This study seeks to fill this gap by examining the perception of undergraduate students towards choosing a BVC business as a vocation after graduation.

Against this backdrop, this study measured the influence of socio-cultural perception, economic perception, government policy perception, and resource availability perception on tertiary students’ decisions to engage in the BVC business as a vocation after graduation. To achieve the objectives of the study, the following hypothesis was formulated; ‘there was no significant difference in the linear combination of the mean vectors of the socio-cultural, economic, government policy, and resource availability across the level of the independent variables’ (university, programme of study, and sex of the students).

This study considered the entire BVC activities. This presented more employment and business options to study participants than most studies have done by only focussing on the production aspect of agricultural commodities. This has helped to shape the study recommendations to improve government policies and the programmes of development partners, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on youth employment and entrepreneurship, career guidance, and public perception campaigns in the livestock subsector of agriculture. In theory, this study adds to the literature of the sustainable livelihood framework (SLF) and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB).

Additionally, the employment of young people empowers them and keeps them away from poverty, and social vices which can lead to crime, drug addiction, and the breakdown of social order in communities. As such, this study also addresses three of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thus: Goal 1 (No Poverty), Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities; United Nations, 2025).

The rest of the sections of this paper include a literature review, which reviews theoretical and empirical literature on the influence of perception in the decision of young people to engage in agriculture value chain businesses as a carrier. The methodology section outlines the procedure for choosing the study area, study design, data collection, and the analytical framework used to examine the influence of the perception of undergraduate students to engage in BVC activities after graduation. The results section presents the results of the analysed data and discussions. A conclusion and recommendations section constitutes the last section, which is built from the discussions of the results upon which recommendations were made to shape government policy and the programmes of development partners.

Literature Review

Empirical Review

The population of Ghana can be described as youthful, having recorded 38% of the population aged between 15 and 35 years old (Ghana Statistical Service, 2022). The high number of young people in any population has positive and negative consequences. It is a demographic phenomenon known as ‘the youth bulge’ (Ortiz & Cummins, 2012).

The positive potential of a youth bulge can be tapped by a nation when the high youthful population is gainfully employed. It lowers the dependency ratio while increasing the per capita income of the people (Lin, 2012). On the contrary, large numbers of unemployed youth can bring insecurity to nations, lower economic growth, and waste their talents (Agbor et al., 2012).

According to Brooks et al. (2013), the agricultural sector was specially placed to employ Africa’s youth as it is a sector familiar to most youth, especially those from rural areas, adding that the key to this approach was for policy makers to view the sector as holding the key to employment creation for the youth.

It is therefore important to understand the views or perceptions young people hold towards engaging in agriculture as a career (Consentino et al., 2023). This is critical in integrating young people into agriculture, which is considered not prestigious and hard work, for which reason they move from rural areas to urban areas (Girdziute et al., 2022).

Though evidence abounds in the literature that shows the agricultural sector is capable of employing young people. However, the decision of the youth to take up careers in agriculture is reported to be affected by their negative perception of agriculture (Kadzamira & Kazembe, 2015; Magagula & Tsvakirai, 2020; Metelerkamp et al., 2019; Ninson & Brobbey, 2023).

Negative perception is one of the driving forces of youth non-engagement in agricultural value chains. Kadzamira and Kazembe (2015) reported that the youth’s attitude towards agriculture was negative in Malawi. They perceived agriculture or farming to belong to people who have no alternative enterprises to pursue and not as a business, but rather as a way of life for rural people. Similarly, only 206 (36%) out of 573 youth in South Africa (Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Limpopo Province) studied had a positive perception towards employment in agriculture; while 64% had a negative perception towards employment in agriculture, and viewed work in agriculture as a means of survival. These negative perceptions contain themes including agriculture being a dirty job meant for the elderly and poor people. Additionally, employment in agriculture was perceived to require very hard work but yield very little financial reward, coupled with very high risk for those who choose it as a career path (Metelerkamp et al., 2019).

On the contrary, Zambian youth had a positive perception regarding the agricultural sector: they believe the sector is not for old people and that it can provide them with livelihood opportunities, with females being more positive than males. In Vietnam, the youth had a negative perception towards agriculture; however, the negative perception among females was higher than among males (Mulema et al., 2021).

In Nkomazi Municipality, South Africa, Magagula and Tsvakirai (2020) conducted a study that focussed on how the perception of youth directs their individual entrepreneurial decisions. The results showed a mixed (both negative and positive) perception regarding the agricultural sector. Economically, the youth perceived that there are opportunities in the agricultural sector that would allow them to achieve their individual economic goals; although individually, they did not believe that their personal abilities, qualities, and ambitions are suitable for the agricultural sector. Socio-culturally, the youth perceive an alignment between the activities of the agricultural sector and their social values.

This notwithstanding, some empirical studies have found that among young people pursuing undergraduate studies in agriculture, variables such as age, family, engaging in farming-related activities such as gardening, and their course of study influence their perception towards career choice in agriculture (Ifeanyi-obi & Ewurum, 2019). Additionally, Shayo et al. (2020) also identified the predictors of a youth’s choice of a career in agriculture and found that gender and age have no influence, but rather subjective norms, attitudes, and perceived behaviour control had an influence on the choice of a youth’s career in agriculture in Tanzania

Al-Bahrani et al. (2020) have also argued that there are contextual variables that influence the career choices of young people. These may include the sex of individuals, parents’ education level, and the academic performance of the youth. In designing career interventions for young people, it is therefore important that these contextual variables are taken into account.

In one of the earliest empirical published research on this subject in Ghana, Sumberg et al. (2012) acknowledged the problem of young people and their involvement in agriculture and how policy response was not supported by evidence, history, and theory in a sensitive context, using the phrase ‘opportunity space’ to denote ‘the spatial and temporal distribution of the universe of more or less viable options that a young person may exploit as she/he attempts to establish an independent life’ (p. 5).

In studying young cocoa farmers in Ghana, Amon-Armah et al. (2023) underscored the need for policy interventions that are pragmatic and take into account young people’s ecological environment and their socio-economic characteristics, as these influence their decision to engage in agriculture as a career.

Further, Kodom et al. (2022) assessed the impact of the MASO Programme in changing the negative perception of youth taking up cocoa farming as a career activity in Ghana. It was found that the perception of the youth before their involvement in the MASO programme included ‘farming is meant for people without good career prospects and school dropouts’ (p. 962). Farming, particularly cocoa, was generally viewed by the youth as an activity that keeps people in poverty, while female youth saw cocoa farming as the preserve of males. Parents in beneficiary communities encouraged their children who dropped out of school to move to urban areas or cities to search for jobs or learn a trade, irrespective of the child’s interest in farming, as the parents could not make it economically in farming.

Similarly, Sumberg, Awo, and Kwadzo (2017), in a study involving 38 Senior High School (SHS) students in Ghana (Tepa and Savelugu SHS), found that education, location, availability of services in rural areas (e.g., electricity, schools, options for employment), farming lacking modernity (or dirty work), parental influence, lack of respect for farmers, farmers work hard for little reward, and farmers are poor, were factors that drive young people away from farming and agricultural-related work.

Beyond perception and the socio-economic characteristics of young people, challenges such as high market competition of agro-products with imported products, unstable prices of agro-products, absence of insurance in agribusiness, and unfavourable land tenure arrangements negatively influenced their willingness to start their agribusiness after graduation (Bosompem et al., 2017). The perceived risk in the agricultural sector due to market and climate failures makes young people believe the sector cannot give them the decent employment they desire, thereby perceiving agriculture to be unattractive and not a respected sector for educated youth (Anyidoho et al., 2012; Mwaura et al., 2015).

Critical to all these is that macroeconomic stability has a profound influence on profit-minded youth (Bank of Ghana, 2022). Similarly, access to credit for BVC businesses and the Ghanaian poultry industry in general has been one of the challenges limiting the expansion of the industry. Adei and Asante (2012) reported that among poultry farmers in Dormaa, only 19% had funding from banks and financial institutions to finance their activities. Similarly, Mensah-Bonsu et al. (2019) reported credit access among commercial poultry value chain actors to include producers (16%), traders (15%), and processors (4%).

Knowledge Gap

Despite these empirical studies that have assessed undergraduate students and young people’s engagement in agriculture in general through different theoretical and methodological approaches. There are no empirical studies that have examined the perception of undergraduate students towards choosing the BVC business as a vocation after graduation, to our knowledge in Ghana or Africa at the time of designing this study protocol. We employed the three-way factorial multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and principal component analysis (PCA) to examine the influence of perception on undergraduate students’ engagement in the broiler value chain.

The factorial multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), is a statistical tool used to determine the relationships and interaction effects between more than one variable of interest and their joint influence. A study by Goodale (2021) explored the impact of gender and college major on student levels of environmental concern and knowledge in the USA by using the MANOVA analysis. The study findings show that females, compared to male students, expressed higher environmental concern. In Ghana, the perception of students on the impact of a lecturer’s rank on their performance was evaluated using the MANOVA statistical technique. The findings of this study show that the rank of a lecture influenced their performance (Nyame et al., 2018). In this light, only a few studies can boast of the use of MANOVA in the literature in studies similar to ours.

Through this novel approach, the study fills the gap by providing empirical evidence of how perception influences undergraduate students towards choosing the BVC business as a vocation after graduation in the Ghanaian youth employment context.

Methodology

Study Context and Design

The study was designed as a quantitative research study that collected cross-sectional data in four public universities in Ghana. This enabled the examination of the relationship between the perception that undergraduate students have about Ghana’s BVC and how that influences their choice to engage in the sector after graduation (Creswell, 2014). The choice of quantitative method was to enable the full comprehension of the variables under consideration through rigorous statistical analysis of the quantitative data. Since the focus was on Undergraduate students in the final year of their studies who may be considering the available employment options for them, it was appropriate to collect cross-sectional data instead of longitudinal data (Neuman, 2014).

The University of Cape Coast (UCC), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), as well as the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED). These institutions are all located (see Figure 1) in the major poultry producing regions of Ghana (Amanor-Boadu et al., 2016; Yevu & Onumah, 2021) and offer a 4-year first-degree programme of study in agriculture with specialisation in either agribusiness, agricultural extension, agricultural economics, animal science, crop science, agricultural biotechnology, and agro-processing.

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Figure 1.

A map of Ghana the location of study universities.

Results

Demographic Characteristics of Final Year Undergraduate Students

Table 1 presents the results of respondents’ demographic characteristics based on the institutions and programmes of study. The results indicate that males dominate their female counterparts in all four universities. For example, AAMUSTED had the highest male population (86.1%), followed by UNER (males = 72.3%), KNUST (males = 70.2%), and UCC (males = 56.8%) in that order. The agriculture and agricultural-related programmes studied by students in the four public universities and the percentages of students per programme are presented in Table 1, which shows that more than one-third (34.8%) of the students studied crop science as their area of specialisation. Of this number, about three-fourths of them (75.5%) were males, while the rest were females. This finding is not surprising, as prior studies have reported that females are underrepresented in university education and in agricultural programmes on the African continent (Asitik & Abu, 2020; Van Houweling et al., 2020).

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Table 1.

Students’ Demographics Characteristics.

Institution	Sex	Frequency	Percent
UCC	Female	19	43.2
	Male	25	56.8
	Total	44	100
KNUST	Female	128	29.8
	Male	301	70.2
	Total	429	100
UENR	Female	13	27.7
	Male	34	72.3
	Total	47	100
AAMUSTED	Female	29	13.9
	Male	179	86.1
	Total	208	100
Programme of study
Agribusiness	Female	43	27.2
	Male	115	72.8
	Total	158	100
Agric extension	Female	12	22.6
	Male	41	77.4
	Total	53	100
Agric economics	Female	11	27.5
	Male	29	72.5
	Total	40	100
Animal science	Female	22	16.8
	Male	109	83.2
	Total	131	100
Crop science	Female	62	24.5
	Male	191	75.5
	Total	253	100
Agric biotech	Female	28	35
	Male	52	65
	Total	80	100
Agro processing	Female	11	84.6
	Male	2	15.4
	Total	13	100
Age of students (Mean age = 24.12 ±2.76 years)
Less than 21	Female	17	56.7
	Male	13	43.3
	Total	30	100
21–25	Female	159	30.8
	Male	358	69.2
	Total	517	100
26–30	Female	13	7.2
	Male	168	92.8
	Total	181	100

Source. Field data (2022).

Students studying Agribusiness were the second highest group, representing a little over one-fifth (21.7%) of the student population. Animal Science students, who were the third highest in the population, represented less than one-fifth (18%). The rest of the students, who were enrolled in study programmes such as Agric Biotech (11%,), Agricultural Extension (7.3%), Agricultural Economics (5.5%) and Agro Processing (1.8%), respectively, were fewer than one-tenth of the total. The mean age of the students was 24.12 ± 2.76 years. On the other hand, 7 in every 10 (71.0%) of the students were between the ages of 21 and 25 years, while approximately one-fourth (24.9%) were 26 years or above.

Perception of Ghanaian Tertiary Students Towards Choosing Broiler Value Chain Business as a Vocation

The results of students in four public universities perception towards engaging in BVC activities after graduation as a vocation is presented in Table 2. The results of the cultural factors indicated students ‘disagreed’ (index 2.11 ± 1.08) with these factors influencing their decision to venture into boiler value chain as a vocation after graduation. Despite the fact that students ‘somewhat agreed’ that broiler value chain jobs are difficult or more demanding, farmers work hard for little reward and females are supposed to carry out marketing activities in the value chain, they however disagreed that broiler value chain activities are dirty to do, broiler value chain businesses are not respected, females are supposed to carry out poultry processing and feed milling jobs are for males.

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Table 2.

Perception of Students Towards Engaging in the Activities of the Broiler Value Chain.

Statements	Strongly disagree (1)	Disagree (2)	Somewhat agree (3)	Agree (4)	Strongly agree (5)	Mean	Std. deviation
Socio-cultural perceptions
Broiler value chain jobs are difficult or more demanding	57 (7.8)	75 (10.3)	247 (33.9)	238 (32.7)	111 (15.2)	3.37	1.1
Farmers work hard for little reward	116 (15.9)	137 (18.8)	198 (27.2)	141 (19.4)	136 (18.7)	3.06	1.33
Females are supposed to carry out marketing activities in the broiler value chain	211 (29.0)	206 (28.3)	137 (18.8)	116 (15.9)	58 (8.0)	2.46	1.28
Broiler value chain jobs are dirty to do	204 (28.0)	209 (28.7)	161 (22.1)	109 (15.0)	45 (6.2)	2.43	1.22
Broiler value chain businesses are not respected	154 (21.2)	254 (34.9)	245 (33.7)	48 (6.6)	27 (3.7)	2.37	1.01
Females are supposed to carry out poultry processing in the broiler value chain	243 (33.4)	232 (31.9)	133 (18.3)	81 (11.1)	39 (5.4)	2.23	1.18
Feed milling is a job for males	301 (41.3)	203 (27.9)	128 (17.6)	67 (9.2)	29 (4.0)	2.07	1.15
Broiler production is a job for males	363 (49.9)	179 (24.6)	151 (20.7)	19 (2.6)	16 (2.2)	1.83	0.99
Broiler value chain jobs are for older people	382 (52.5)	215 (29.5)	74 (10.2)	32 (4.4)	25 (3.4)	1.77	1.03
Broiler farming makes you poor	419 (57.6)	191 (26.2)	69 (9.5)	32 (4.4)	17 (2.3)	1.68	0.98
Broiler production is for the less privileged in the society	435 (59.8)	184 (25.3)	62 (8.5)	30 (4.1)	17 (2.3)	1.64	0.96
My parents told me not to be involved in any farming or agriculture related activities	492 (67.6)*	138 (19.0)	38 (5.2)	36 (4.9)	24 (3.3)	1.57	1.02
Broiler businesses are for poor people	477 (65.5)	150 (20.6)	64 (8.8)	25 (3.4)	12 (1.6)	1.55	0.91
Broiler production is for school dropouts and illiterates	501 (68.8)	138 (19.0)	45 (6.2)	28 (3.8)	16 (2.2)	1.52	0.93
Index						2.11	1.08
Economic perceptions
High feed cost would affect the business turn over (profitability)	24 (3.3)	52 (7.1)	137 (18.8)	228 (31.3)	287 (39.4)	3.96	1.08
The depreciation of the Ghanaian currency may increase cost of production and rendering the business unsustainable	24 (3.3)	59 (8.1)	168 (23.1)	225 (30.9)	252 (34.6)	3.85	1.09
Whole scale importation of poultry production inputs makes broiler value chain business frustrating to young starters	26 (3.6)	62 (8.5)	188 (25.8)	250 (34.3)	202 (27.7)	3.74	1.06
Broiler value chain businesses are capital intensive, because of this young people cannot start such a business on their own	35 (4.8)	90 (12.4)	187 (25.7)	188 (25.8)	228 (31.3)	3.66	1.18
Broiler value chain business is a high risk one due to disease out breaks	44 (6.0)	83 (11.4)	209 (28.7	209 (28.7	183 (25.1)	3.55	1.16
Broiler value chain jobs are not well paying	95 (13.0)	235 (32.3)	226 (31.0)	120 (16.5)	52 (7.1)	2.72	1.11
Broiler value chain businesses are not profitable	334 (45.9)	240 (33.0)	96 (13.2)	38 (5.2)	20 (2.7)	1.86	1.01
Index						3.33	1.10
Government policy perceptions
Local broiler business are not given subsidies to lower their cost of production	27 (3.7)	75 (10.3)	164 (22.5)	269 (37.0)	193 (26.5)	3.72	1.08
Government has a no consistent poultry production policy	37 (5.1)	93 (12.8)	188 (25.8)	227 (31.2)	183 (25.1)	3.59	1.14
Ghana government has no import substitution policy to reduce and eliminate importation of frozen chicken into Ghana	47 (6.5)	75 (10.3)	201 (27.6)	210 (28.8)	195 (26.8)	3.59	1.17
University education does not adequately prepare first degree holders to start their own business	80 (11.0)	109 (15.0)	169 (23.2)	154 (21.2)	216 (29.7)	3.44	1.34
The poultry industry is not a priority to Government of Ghana	57 (7.8)	106 (14.6)	238 (32.7)	179 (24.6)	148 (20.3)	3.35	1.18
There is little or no use of technology and machines in broiler production in Ghana	75 (10.3)	108 (14.8)	207 (28.4)	187 (25.7)	151 (20.7)	3.32	1.24
There is no sufficient extension support to poultry producers	80 (11.0)	115 (15.8)	208 (28.6)	208 (28.6)	’117 (16.1)	3.23	1.22
Index						3.46	1.20
Resource availability
Young people do not have easy access to get land for broiler value chain activities	38 (5.2)	69 (9.5)	140 (19.2)	226 (31.0)	225 (35.0)	3.81	1.17
It is not easy for young people to access credit to start or scale-up broiler production	67 (9.2)	82 (11.3)	126 (17.3)	196 (26.9)	257 (35.3)	3.68	1.31
Production inputs are not readily available	36 (4.9)	93 (12.8)	194 (26.6)	235 (32.3)	170 (23.4)	3.56	1.13
Information needed to support broiler value chain activities are not easily available	57 (7.8)	133 (18.3)	204 (28.0)	199 (27.3)	135 (18.5)	3.30	1.19
It is not easy to sell broiler meat and meat products in Ghana	100 (13.7)	198 (27.2)	228 (31.3)	137 (18.8)	65 (8.9)	2.82	1.16
It is not easy to sell live Broiler in Ghana	110 (15.1)	234 (32.1)	242 (33.2)	101 (13.9)	41 (5.6)	2.63	1.07
There are no broiler processing plants/factories in my region	247 (33.9)	150 (20.6)	162 (22.3)	110 (15.1)	59 (8.1)	2.43	1.31
Index						3.18	1.19
Overall index						3.02	1.14

Source. Field survey (2022).

Means were calculated from a scale of 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = somewhat agree, 4 = agree and 5 = strongly agree.

*

Figures in parenthesis are in percentages.

When the economic factors were examined, the results revealed that generally, the students somewhat ‘agreed’ that economic factors will affect their decision to enter into broiler value chain after graduation (Index = 3.33 ± 1.10). Even though students ‘somewhat agreed’ that broiler value chain jobs are not well paying, they ‘agreed’ that high feed cost would affect the business turn over (profitability). Students also ‘agreed’ that the depreciation of the Ghanaian currency may increase the cost of production, rendering the business unsustainable.

The students agreed that the whole-scale importation of poultry production inputs makes the broiler value chain business frustrating to young starters. Furthermore, the students agreed that broiler value chain businesses are capital-intensive, and because of this, young people cannot start such a business on their own, and the business is a high-risk one due to disease outbreaks (Bannor et al., 2023).

The results show that students agreed’ government policies would affect their decision to venture into the broiler value chain business after graduation (Index = 3.46 ± 1.20). The undergraduate students agreed that local broiler businesses are not given subsidies to lower the cost of production, the government has no consistent poultry production policy, and no import substitution policy to reduce and eliminate the importation of frozen chicken into the country.

Assessing resource availability and how it would affect the decision of the students to enter into the BVC business showed that students somewhat agreed that resource availability would affect their decision to venture into the BVC business after graduation (Index = 3.18 ± 1.19). Even though students ‘somewhat agreed’ that information needed to support broiler value chain activities is not easily available, and it is not easy to sell broiler meat and meat products in the country, they however ‘agreed’ that young people do not have easy access to get land for broiler value chain activities, it is not easy for young people to access credit to start or scale-up broiler production, and production inputs are not readily available.

Differences in Factors Influencing Students’ Decision to Venture Into Broiler Value Chain and Programme of Study, Institution, and Sex of Student

The linear combination of the differences in the four factors (sociocultural, economic, government policies and resource availability) influencing students’ decision to venture into the broiler value chain for the institution of study (UCC, KNUST, UNER and AMMUSTED), programme of study (Agribusiness, Agricultural Extension, Agricultural Economics, Animal Science, Crop Science, Agricultural Biotechnology and Agro Processing), and sex (Male and female) were examined with three-way factorial multivariate analysis of variance (three-way factorial MANOVA). There were no significant violations found in the preliminary evaluation to test for multicollinearity, univariate and multivariate outliers, linearity, and normality. Table 3 shows the results of the three-way factorial MANOVA. The Box’s M test was used to verify that the variance-covariance matrices were homogeneous. Covariance matrices across groups should be homogeneous, according to the calculated Box’s M value of 382.66 (F (260,9757.18) = 1.23, p = .008). When testing for statistical significance, Wilks’ Lambda (Λw) was employed. The results established no statistically significant difference between the institution at which the students are studying and the linear combination of the socio-cultural, economic, government policies, and resource availability (F(12,1839.09) = 1.04, p = .41; Λw = 0.98; η² = 0.006) factors influencing students’ decision to venture into broiler value chain as a vocation after graduating from the universities. Secondly, there was no statistical significance difference between the programme of study of the students and the linear combination of the factors influencing their decision to go into the broiler value chain after graduation from the university (F (24,2425.78) = 0.61; p = .93; Λw = 0.98; η² = 0.005). Thirdly, male and female students did not differ on the linear combination of sociocultural, economic, government policies and resource availability that would influence the decision to work in the broiler value chain as a vocation after their studies in the universities (F (4,695.00) = 0.81, p = .52, Λw = 1.00; η² = 0.005). Furthermore, there were no noticeable differences in the interaction between institution and the programme of study of the students (F (24,2425.78) = 0.78, p = .77, Λw = 0.78; η² = 0.007), institution and sex of students (F (12,1839.09) = 0.98, p = .47, Λw = 0.98; η² = 0.006), programme of study and sex (F (24,2425.78) = 0.53, p = .97, Λw = 0.98; η² = 0.005), and institution, programme of study and sex (F (16, 2123.90) = 0.62, p = .87, Λw = 0.99; η² = 0.004). The results indicate that students in the four public universities, their programme of study, and sex do not significantly impact the sociocultural, economic, government policies, and resource availability factors influencing their decision to venture into the broiler value chain after completing their university education. The results infer that when an undergraduate student decides to participate in the broiler value chain as an employment opportunity based on the sociocultural, economic, government policies, and resources availability, their university, programme of study, and sex, and the interaction between these variables would not have any bearing on that decision.

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Table 3.

Multivariate Test of Institution, Programme, and Sex on Broiler Value Chain Factors.

Effect	Criteria	Value	F	Hypothesis df	Error df	p value*	Partial η 2
Institution of study	Wilks’ Lambda	0.98	1.04	12.00	1839.09	.41	0.006
Programme of study	Wilks’ Lambda	0.98	0.61	24.00	2425.78	.93	0.005
Sex of student	Wilks’ Lambda	1.00	0.81	4.00	695.00	.52	0.005
Institution*Programme	Wilks’ Lambda	0.97	0.78	24 0.00	2425.78	.77	0.007
Institution*Sex	Wilks’ Lambda	0.98	0.98	12.00	1839.09	.47	0.006
Programme*Sex	Wilks’ Lambda	0.98	0.53	24.00	2425.78	.97	0.005
Institution*Programme* sex	Wilks’ Lambda	0.99	0.62	16.00	2123.90	.87	0.004

Source. Field survey (2022). * = p < 0.05

Factors Influencing Undergraduate Students’ Decision to Engage in the Broiler Value Chain Business as a Vocation

Undergraduate students’ opinion about engaging in the BVC business as a vocation was subjected to principal components analysis (PCA) to examine the factors influencing such a decision. The data set was examined to ascertain its suitability for computing the PCA. Analysis of the correlation matrix showed that correlation coefficients .30 or higher were dominant indicating that the sample was suitable for the PCA (Pett et al., 2003). To assess the sample size adequacy of the data set, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sample size adequacy was used. KMO value of 0.86 indicated sample size adequacy because it is higher than the recommended KMO value of 0.6 (Pallant, 2016). Following that, Bartlett’s Test of sphericity revealed that the PCA was statistically significant (X² (595) = 8766.30, p = .00). The Bartlett’s test implies that the correlation matrix supports the factorability of the variables used to examine the factors influencing undergraduate students’ decision to engage in the BVC business as a vocation (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2013).

Examination of the initial eigenvalues of the PCA revealed nine components with eigenvalues greater than one. The nine components (component 1 = 17.66%, component 2 = 12.75%, component 3 = 7.67%, component 4 = 4.92%, component 5 = 4.01%, component 6 = 3.93%, component 7 = 3.25%, component 8 = 3.19%, and component 9 = 2.96%) collectively accounted for 60.33% of the variance in the decision of the undergraduate students to engage in BVC business. Cattell’s scree plot was examined to determine the breaking point of the graph [Appendix 3] (Cattel, 1966). The graph showed the breaking point on the sixth component. To confirm the six components, Watkins, (2000) Monte Carlo Parallel analysis was computed with the 35 items, 728 sample size, and 1,000 replications (35 variables × 728 cases × 1,000 replications). The results of the parallel analysis showed that six components of the initial PCA had eigenvalues greater than the corresponding criterion values from the parallel analysis (see Table 4); hence, six components were accepted, which accounted for 57.93% of the variance in the data set.

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Table 4.

Monte Carlo Parallel Analysis.

Component number	Actual eigenvalues from PCA	Criterion values from parallel analysis	Decision
1	6.18	1.44	Accepted
2	4.46	1.38	Accepted
3	2.68	1.34	Accepted
4	1.72	1.30	Accepted
5	1.40	1.28	Accepted
6	1.38	1.25	Accepted
7	1.14	1.22	Rejected
8	1.11	1.20	Rejected
9	1.03	1.17	Rejected

Source: Field data (2022).

When the six components were extracted, only three had factor loadings greater than 0.50 and were therefore retained. The lower factor loading suggests a weaker correlation between the variables and the principal components (Samuels, 2017). Loadings less than 0.50 indicate that the variable’s differences are not strongly explained by that specific component, signifying that it might not be important to the overall structure of the data for the components (Williams et al., 2010). These three components cumulatively accounted for 38% of the variance in the decision of undergraduate students to engage in BVC business as a vocation, with component 1 predicting 17.66%, component 2 predicting 12.75%, and component 3 predicting 7.67% of the variation. The variance of the three retained components accounted for the reduction from 57.93% for six components to 38%. Rotation adequacy of the PCA was determined by examining the correlation matrix of the three components. Davis (1979) convention for determining the magnitude was used to assess the correlation coefficients. The results showed no correlation between the three components (r = .00), therefore varimax orthogonal rotation was performed to support the interpretation of the three components (Pallant, 2016).

Table 5 shows the factor loadings, communalities, percent of variance, and covariance. To assist in the interpretation of the results, the three components were ordered and grouped based on the magnitude of factor loadings greater than 0.50. The three components were ordered as socio-cultural factors (component 1), economic factors (component 2) and production resources availability (component 3), and three suggested interpretations were given to the components. Ten items loaded strongly on both components 1 and 2, while seven items loaded strongly on component 3. Zeros were used to replace all factor loadings less than 0.45 (20% of variance). Eight items that had factor loadings less than 0.50 were deleted from the PCA.

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Table 5.

Factor Loadings, Communalities, Percent of Variance, and Covariance.

Variables	Comp. 1	Comp. 2	Comp. 3	h 2
My parents told me not to be involved in any farming or agriculture related activities	0.623			0.397
Broiler value chain jobs are for older people	0.713			0.512
Broiler businesses are for poor people	0.795			0.644
Broiler production is a job for males	0.702			0.5
Feed milling is a job for males	0.683			0.476
Females are supposed to carry out poultry processing in the broiler value chain	0.513			0.264
Broiler farming makes you poor	0.697			0.49
Broiler production is for school dropouts and illiterates	0.757			0.598
Broiler production is for the less privileged in the society	0.740			0.585
Broiler value chain businesses are not profitable	0.654			0.441
The depreciation of the Ghana currency may increase cost of production and rearing		0.570		0.33
Broiler value chain jobs are not well paying				0.352
Broiler value chain businesses are capital intensive, because of this young people		0.549		0.338
High feed cost would affect the business turn over (profitability)		0.583		0.344
Whole scale importation of poultry production inputs makes broiler value chain business frustrating to young starters		0.583		0.34
Government has a no consistent poultry production policy		0.596		0.356
There is little or no use of technology and machines in broiler production in Ghana		0.582		0.363
The poultry industry is not a priority to Government of Ghana		0.600		0.414
Ghana government has no import substitution policy to reduce and eliminate imports		0.642		0.395
Local broiler business are not given subsidies to lower their cost of production		0.611		0.311
University education does not adequately prepare first degree holders to start		0.554		0.222
It is not easy for young people to access credit to start or scale-up broiler production			0.617	0.487
Young people do not have easy access to land for broiler value chain activities			0.662	0.542
Information needed to support broiler value chain activities are easily available to young people			0.689	0.484
Production inputs are not readily available			0.713	0.552
It is not easy to sell broiler meat and meat products in Ghana			0.582	0.356
It is not easy to sell live broilers in Ghana			0.527	0.301
There are no broiler processing plants/ factories in my region			0.575	0.39
Sum of squared loadings (SSL)		7.08	6.08
Percent of variance		15.76	13.54
Percent of covariance		15.76	29.29

Source. Field data (2022).

Therefore, socio-cultural factors (e.g., my parents told me not to be involved in any farming or agriculture related activities; broiler value chain jobs are for older people; broiler businesses are for poor people; and broiler production is job for males). Economic factors (e.g., the depreciation of the Ghana currency may increase cost of production and rearing; broiler value chain businesses are capital intensive and because of this young people cannot start such a business on their own; high feed cost would affect the business turn over; whole scale importation of poultry production inputs makes broiler value chain business frustrating to young starters). And production resource availability (e.g., it is not easy for young people to access credit to start or scale-up broiler production; young people do not have easy access to land for broiler value chain activities; information needed to support broiler value chain activities are easily available to young people; and production inputs are not readily available) were identified to influence the perception of students. The results from the PCA imply that the key socio-cultural, economic, and production resource availability factors would influence undergraduate students’ decision to engage in broiler value chain business as a vocation. In other words, sociocultural, economic, and production resource availability are factors engaging the minds of agriculture and agricultural-related undergraduate students in the four public universities in Ghana.

Discussion

Sociocultural factors are reported to influence the decision of the youth to participate in agricultural value chains. The results of this study show a general disagreement by the students that these factors would influence their choice to engage in the BVC as entrepreneurs or employees.

However, a diverse perception of students was observed in some of the individual statements of the socio-cultural construct. The disagreement of students with the statement ‘my parents told me not to be involved in any farming or agriculture-related activities shows that parents have not told their wards not to be involved in any farming or agriculture-related activity. This implies that should students venture into agriculture or farming after school, it would be an independent decision. They are also likely to get the support of their parents. The finding contradicts what was reported by Sumberg and Okali (2013) and Kodom et al. (2022) that African parents who are farmers discourage their children from taking up farming after them, as the parents could not make it economically in agriculture.

Similarly, students disagree that BVC activities are not respected. It can be concluded that students in search of a noble venture to undertake after school will likely consider an activity along the BVC because they see it to be noble. This finding is out of sync with what has been reported by Mwaura et al. (2015) on the perception of Ghanaian youth towards agriculture in general.

Additionally, students disagree that BVC jobs are for older people and that no specific activity along the BVC was meant for any gender. This provides a promising future for the BVC since most (52.5%) of the youth do not perceive it to be a prerogative of older people, and activities along the chain can be undertaken by any gender. This notwithstanding, Mensah-Bonsu et al. (2019) in a study reported that 90.7% of poultry producers in the Dormaa and Sunyani enclave were men, whereas the trading and processing segments of the poultry value chain were dominated by women who constituted 89.2% and 84.4%, respectively.

On the perception of BVC activities being a job for the less privileged or poor people in society, the findings show that students disagree. This implies that the majority of students do not think broiler production is for the less privileged in society. This finding collaborates with what has earlier been reported by several authors, in that engagement in livestock value chain activities as a livelihood or business venture was an easy path to escape poverty on the African continent (African Union, 2015; Mensah-Bonsu et al., 2019; Rich et al., 2009).

The results (see Table 2) on the economic perception construct show that of the seven statements students only disagree with two, and the construct index (3.33 ± 1.10) demonstrates a tilt towards students agreeing that the prevailing economic environment in which broiler businesses were operating would negatively influence their decision to engage in the BVC activities as entrepreneurs or employees after graduation.

Specifically, students perceived the broiler business to be profitable as they disagree with the statement ‘broiler value chain businesses are not profitable’ and students disagree that ‘broiler value chain jobs are not well-paying’. This means students who intend to pursue a profitable business or take up a well-paying job will consider choosing broiler production and its related value chain activities. Magagula and Tsvakirai (2020) have posited that youth who have a positive economic perception about a particular agribusiness are more likely to venture into it.

Students perceived broiler production and the activities along the broiler value chain to be a high-risk activity (3.55 ± 1.16). This was revealed in the findings as 53.8% of the students agree that broiler production is a high-risk venture due to disease outbreaks. This concurs with the report of Ruiz Salvago et al. (2019) who reported on how perceiving farming as high risks was keeping the youth of Thailand’s Prachinburi Province away from engaging in the sector.

Moreover, students perceive the macroeconomic conditions (3.85 ± 1.09) of the country to be affecting BVC activities. The majority (65.5%) of students agreed that the depreciation of the Ghanaian currency would increase the cost of production since some cost items used in production and processing activities are imported. These findings demonstrate the high level of awareness of students about the BVC and the Ghanaian economy. Given that the Bank of Ghana reported in October 2022 that the Ghanaian currency had lost more than 37% of its value against the US dollar and other international currencies (Bank of Ghana, 2022), this lowers the competitiveness of Ghana’s BVC businesses (Van Horne, 2018).

Furthermore, students perceive broiler production to be capital intensive (3.66 ± 1.18) and that the high cost of feed would affect profitability (3.96 ± 1.08). The statement ‘high feed cost would affect the business turnover (profitability)’ recorded the highest mean among all the statements. Students agree that the economic conditions in the country do not favour broiler production as they perceive it to impact the feed cost and the margins of actors. It implies that students with a profit mindset would not choose a broiler value chain business as a venture under the prevailing circumstances.

In value chain development, the issue of government policy, interventions, regulations, levies, or taxes is a critical growth catalyst. These create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive (Vermooij et al., 2018). These types of government policy interventions in a sector can increase investments in businesses and export opportunities (Dlamini et al., 2014). Government interventions such as the introduction of import levies have the potential to increase or decrease the competitiveness of BVC businesses. At the same time, it can increase participation in the value chain.

The perception of students on government policies in the BVC shows interesting findings, as students agreed with a composite mean index of 3.46 ± 1.20 that government policies do not support the growth and sustainability of the poultry industry, particularly the BVC.

Students agreed that the ‘government has no consistent policy’ (3.59 ± 1.14) and ‘Ghana government has no import substitution policy to reduce and eliminate importation of frozen chicken into Ghana’ (3.59 ± 1.17). This means students perceive that importation of poultry and related products will be an issue to them should they venture into broiler production, as the government has no policy to reduce the importation. This is a major concern to actors of the chain, as imported chicken is cheaper than that locally produced, therefore affecting the demand decisions of chicken consumers (Asante-Addo & Weible, 2020; Asante-Addo & Weible, 2019). This result contradicts Sumberg et al.’s (2017) findings that although there was government policy on the poultry industry, it was, however, challenged by the fact that it lacks trade policies that offer minimal protection to poultry farmers, and available mechanism that enables the gathering of data for the poultry value chain in Ghana. Additionally, market access was found to be a motivation factor for the youth of Zambia to take up a career in agriculture (Mulema et al., 2021). Similarly, Bosompem et al. (2017) found that accessibility and availability of a market for agro-products positively influence students’ willingness to enter into agribusiness as self-employment.

A surprising result from this study was that 50.9% of the students agreed (3.44 ± 1.34) that ‘University education does not adequately prepare first degree holders to start their own business’. This suggests that the current form of undergraduate education respondents are receiving does not fully equip them to be entrepreneurs.

The results on the resource availability perception construct show that students disagreed that a lack of resources would influence them not to engage in the BVC after school. However, students agreed to three out of the seven statements under this construct. Students perceive (3.81 ± 1.17) that ‘young people do not have easy access to land for broiler value chain activities. This concurs with Ng’atigwa et al.’s (2020) finding that lack of land access was a key factor that was keeping the youth of Njombe Region in Tanzania from horticulture agribusiness. Similarly, Bosompem et al. (2017) also reported that unfavourable land tenure arrangements were negatively influencing the willingness of undergraduate students in starting their own agribusiness after school in Ghana.

Respondents agreed that (3.68 ± 1.31) ‘it is not easy for young people to access credit to start or scale-up broiler production’. Students who intend to use borrowed funds in starting a broiler production business or its related activities are likely not to do so since they perceive it was not easy or possible to acquire a loan. This is consistent with previous literature (Adei & Asante, 2012; Mcleod et al., 2009; Mensah-Bonsu et al., 2019).

There was also an agreement (3.56 ± 1.13) by students to the statement that ‘production inputs are not readily available’. This indicates that students perceived that this issue could hinder any future BVC business venture if nothing is done to make inputs more readily available. It can, therefore, affect their decision to choose BVC activities as a vocation after school.

The three-way factorial MANOVA results showed no statistically significant difference between the institution the students are studying, programme of study, sex of student, institution*programme, institution*sex, programme*sex, institution*programme*sex and the linear combination of the sociocultural, economic, government policies, and resource availability. This surprising result implies that any policy intervention aimed to increase students’ participation in the BVC as entrepreneurs or employees can be generalised for all the students in the four public universities.

Particularly worth noting is the result showing male and female students did not differ on the linear combination of sociocultural, economic, government policies resource availability that would influence the decision to work in the broiler value chain as a vocation after their studies in the universities. This implies that gender does not influence the choice of students engaging in entrepreneurship in the BVC or taking up employment in the sector. This finding contradicts long standing reports on how gender influences a student’s entrepreneurship intentions (Westhead & Solesvik, 2016; Wilson et al., 2007).

Additionally, the MANOVA results indicate that students in the four public universities, their programme of study, and sex does not significantly impact the sociocultural, economic, government policies and resource availability factors influencing their decision to venture into the broiler value chain after completing their university education. This means male and female students pursuing different specialisations in agriculture in the four public universities share the same perception on the four-perception construct. This may hold true according to the findings of Inegbedion and Islam (2020). The authors found that among students in the Southwest of Nigeria, studying agriculture was motivated by their quest to acquire skills that would help them to be self-employed after graduation. It is therefore plausible that these students in Ghana’s universities are not influenced by the sociocultural, economic, government policies and resource availability factors. As their objective may be to start their own businesses like the Nigerian students.

The principal components analysis (PCA) results demonstrates that the socio-cultural, economic and production resource availability are three key factors that would influence undergraduate students’ decision to engage in broiler value chain business as a vocation after graduation. These three factors have the potential of discouraging students from participating in the BVC either entrepreneurs or employees. Studies by Sumberg, Awo, and Kwadzo (2017) and Bosompem et al. (2017) both acknowledge these factors to be part of the reasons students would choose not to participate in the activities of agricultural value chains after graduation.

Policy interventions that address the constraints faced by BVC actors by creating an enabling businesses environment that ensures macro-economic stability, availability and affordability of inputs and market access will boost their confidence and increase their participation in the BVC.

Addressing the negative perception young people (students) have about activities of the BVC and agriculture in general is critical to increasing the participation of students in BVC activities after graduation.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The overall perception of students on the issues that would keep them away from engaging in BVC business after school was that they somewhat agree (3.02 ± 1.14) that there were socio-cultural, economic, policy and resource availability perceptions that could prevent their participation in the activities of the BVC after school. Among the four factors or constructs on which the perception of students was measured, students agreed (3.46 ± 1.20) that existing government policies does not support the growth and profitability of BVC businesses, suggesting that if there is no policy shift by government before they graduate, they will likely not engage in the BVC. The statement that recorded the highest mean score (3.96 ± 1.08) with 70.7% agreement among students was ‘high feed cost would affect the business turn over (profitability)’. However, students also agreed that the depreciation of the Ghanaian currency may increase cost of production rendering the business unsustainable. Students also agreed that current government policies and the state of the country’s economy do not support or favour the growth of broiler value chain businesses, which may affect their decision to participate in BVC activities after graduation. The agreement by students to these statements buttresses the high level of awareness of students regarding the BVC and the Ghanaian economy.

Although it was surprising, the three-way factorial MANOVA results suggest that if an undergraduate student decides to participate in the broiler value chain as an entrepreneur or employee, the decision would not be due to the influence of factors such as sociocultural, economic, government policies and resources availability, their university, programme of study and sex, and the interaction between these variables. However, the principal components analysis (PCA) results have shown the three important factors that influence undergraduate students’ decision to engage in broiler value chain business as a vocation after graduation are socio-cultural, economic, and production resource availability.

These findings highlight the important role perception plays in the decision-making process of undergraduate students or young people in choosing to engage in the agricultural sector, particularly the broiler value chain, as a vocation. Predominantly available literature on the engagement of students or young people in agriculture as a business vocation or employment in Ghana has been focussed on agriculture in general, although few studies exist on cocoa, but not the livestock or broiler industry. Hence, this study provides compelling evidence that students’ perception of the socio-cultural, economic, and production resources availability factors in the industry are the three important factors that shape their decision to engage in broiler value chain business as a vocation after graduation. Policy intervention by the government, aiming to encourage graduates of Ghanaian universities or young people, must first address the broiler industry challenges. The involvement of graduates in the broiler value chain as entrepreneurs or employees will serve as a means of employment, which will enable them to contribute to the national economy. They would also bring to the industry technical know-how and youthful energy, and the assurance of industry sustainability. This has the potential to reduce social vices common among unemployed youth in the country, such as violent crimes and drug abuse.

In view of these findings, to change the perception of students and encourage agricultural graduates to engage in activities of the BVC as a vocation, the Government and development partners need to double their efforts to make BVC businesses look attractive to the youth by demystifying socio-cultural barriers. The government should also create an enabling business environment and ensure national macroeconomic stability that positively impacts the growth of agribusinesses, particularly BVC businesses. A clear policy by the government that addresses access to land and risk mitigation, such as insurance for start-ups, should be considered to attract university graduates to the broiler value chain business as entrepreneurs or employees in the sector. Though in Ghana, there are traditional universities and technical universities that offer a first degree in agriculture. This study did not include the technical universities in Ghana, hence a limitation of this study. It is recommended that future research on this subject should include technical universities.