Consciousness of forestry field occupation of university students majoring in forestry in Korea

Sung-Min Park; Yong-Rae Kim; Dokyo Oh; Ye Jun Choe; Joon-Woo Lee; Sung-Min Choi

doi:10.7744/kjoas.520201

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2025 Vol.52, Issue 2 Next Page

Plant & Forest

Consciousness of forestry field occupation of university students majoring in forestry in Korea

1 June 2025. pp. 67-80

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Abstract

Recently, the forestry field has been experiencing difficulties in meeting the demand for personnel in the field. According to the analysis of 433 finalized questionnaires out of 519 questionnaires collected, “Deciding to major in forestry based on my interest or aptitude” was the most important factor in choosing a major, with 237 (29.1%), followed by “economic income” with 362 (27.2%), “work-life balance” with 287 (21.5%), and “work environment” with 233 (17.5%). In terms of satisfaction with their majors, 235 (53.0%) were satisfied and 79 (17.8%) were very satisfied. The outlook for the forestry field is also positive, with 235 (53.0%) rating it as good and 90 (20.3%) rating it as very good. In terms of job preparation, obtaining a certificate was the most important factor for 346 (35.8%) and managing credits was the most important factor for 298 (30.8%), reflecting the impact of technical certificates on employment in the forestry sector. Regarding the type of work, even if they prefer office work, a significant number of students would consider working in the field, with 87 (42.0%) answering “yes” and 25 (12.1%) answering “very much so”, if the safety, monetary compensation, and reduced labor intensity of field work were guaranteed. In particular, if they secure economic stability and promote qualitative growth to improve job satisfaction, such as improving the work environment, they can not only solve the problem of the shortage of field personnel in the forest sector, but also expect to develop the forest industry by continuously fostering and attracting talented people.

Keywords

consciousness survey

demand and supply of manpower

forest technology

forestry major

occupation

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Information

Publisher :Institute of Agricultural Science, Chungnam National University
Publisher(Ko) :충남대학교 농업과학연구소
Journal Title :Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
Journal Title(Ko) :농업과학연구
Volume : 52
No :2
Pages :67-80
Received Date : 2025-01-24
Revised Date : 2025-04-03
Accepted Date : 2025-04-08
DOI :https://doi.org/10.7744/kjoas.520201

Korean Journal of Agricultural Science ISSN:2466-2402(Print) 2466-2410(Online) 농업과학연구

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