Claire Toogood reflects on how Jisc-funded research into graduate self-employment has developed into a wider body of work exploring agricultural careers - and argues that improving awareness of opportunities to work in agriculture requires practical, research-informed action
In 2018, Jisc (then HECSU) funded me to explore what made graduates choose self-employment at Harper Adams University, where a higher-than-average proportion of leavers were entering self-employment after graduation. My project investigated whether graduates were actively choosing self-employment or starting a business, what formal and informal influences shaped those choices and reflected on the agricultural employment context.
My report demonstrated the significance of background, exposure, role models, confidence, education and opportunity in career decision-making. It also highlighted something that has continued to run through my work: agricultural careers are shaped by identity, familiarity and networks, but also inclusive, accessible education and opportunities, and the extent to which people can imagine themselves belonging.
Several years later, I am now undertaking a PhD by published work at Harper Adams University focused on understanding and supporting agricultural career pathways, alongside my day job at the Graduate Futures Institute.
People cannot consider careers they do not know about, do not understand, or do not see as relevant to them.
Agriculture has an awareness1 and skills2 challenge. For some, farming and food careers are familiar because they have grown up around the sector, but for many others, these opportunities may feel distant, unattractive or largely invisible. This is despite the fact that work in agriculture connects directly to some of the most significant issues facing society: food security, climate change, sustainability, animal health, land use, technology, rural economies and environmental change. The sector opportunities are wide-ranging and exciting. But as we know, people cannot consider careers they do not know about, do not understand, or do not see as relevant to them.
Agricultural career awareness, sector entry and career sustainability
My original project considered how graduates understand enterprise, entrepreneurship and self-employment, and what experiences or resources help them make decisions about these pathways.
I then explored the experiences of new entrants from non-agricultural backgrounds working in agriculture and agri-food, with a focus on leadership, management and employee development.3 In that project I reviewed routes into agriculture and agri-food, considered what could be learned from individuals' educational and employment journeys, and examined how people from non-agricultural backgrounds experienced recruitment, training, development and day-to-day management, and the most effective forms of support across these areas.
I subsequently worked with colleagues to explore the concept of farming careers as a calling. Our scoping review considered whether farming careers in the UK can be understood through Work as Calling Theory.4 We found evidence of behaviours associated with perceiving and living a calling: meaning and purpose through work, passion, identity connected to work, barriers and challenges, and sometimes a sense of burden.
This adds an important dimension to agricultural careers awareness. If farming can be experienced as meaningful, purposeful and identity-shaping work, careers education, information, advice and guidance need to respond accordingly. The aim should not be to romanticise the sector, but to help people understand the realities, rewards, opportunities and demands of farming and agricultural work.
Recently, I also used submissions to a UK government inquiry to investigate how children and young adults' understanding and awareness of agricultural careers might be improved.5 My findings showed a high degree of consensus among stakeholders, with a constructive outlook and willingness to take action to address sector challenges. Key themes included the need for high-quality careers and labour market information, engagement with education, collaboration and partnership, policy and financial support, and wider public presence and awareness.
For me, one of the most useful findings was that sector stakeholders appeared to agree on the broad direction of travel. There was agreement about the need for better information, stronger educational engagement, more collaboration and improved public visibility.
Turning research into action
As someone working in careers and employability, I want to ensure my research can be applied and is useful to the people who might act on it. In my academic work I am using my research outputs to build a model of agricultural careers, but alongside that, I am also reflecting on practical outputs for wider audiences.
One practical output could be a research-informed checklist for educators, employers, sector bodies, careers professionals and outreach teams. This could help stakeholders reflect on current activity and identify meaningful next steps. Five suggested questions, based on my work so far, are:
- Are we showing the full range of agricultural careers using high-quality, up to date, agricultural career and labour market information and examples? Agriculture is not only production farming. It includes science, technology, engineering, business, consultancy, sustainability, policy, data, machinery, animal health, land management, food systems and environmental work, and much more! Such data can be brought to life using real stories and case studies to make career routes visible and tangible.
- Are young people encountering agricultural careers before key subject and qualification choices are made? Reponses to the government inquiry highlighted some great, inspiring projects such as the Morecambe Bay Curriculum6 that take a place-based approach to sustainable careers, including agriculture, across all stages of education. In my research, I have also evaluated the work of Farms for City Children7, a charity offering residential visits which build comprehension of the farm-to-fork journey and associated agricultural understanding.
- How often do students encounter agricultural careers outside specialist courses or institutions? Are these encounters inclusive and accessible? If agriculture is only visible or available to those already studying agricultural subjects, the reach of awareness activity will always be limited. Inclusive and accessible opportunities that reach wider audiences are vital for sector sustainability.
- Are careers professionals, educators and employers with an interest in agricultural careers collaborating and sharing their expertise, knowledge and perspectives, to support joined up action for change? One of the strongest messages from my recent research is that stakeholder consensus already exists. Effective collaboration provides an opportunity to deliver coherent, sustained and evidence-informed activity.
- Do we recognise the personal meaning, identity and calling often associated with agricultural careers? Careers education, information, advice and guidance recognising that agriculture is experienced as deeply meaningful work can support people to understand how to manage the benefit and burden of such work, throughout their career.
If we want a more diverse and sustainable agricultural workforce, chance is not enough.
The role of case studies
I believe that case studies have a particular role to play in improving agricultural careers awareness. Case studies share the lived experience of how someone entered the sector, what influenced them, any barriers they faced, what support mattered and how their understanding developed over time. Used well, case studies can help students, graduates, teachers and advisers see that agricultural careers are not limited to one background, one route or one identity.8
They can also support those already working in agriculture to think more critically about recruitment, inclusion, leadership and retention, ensuring the sector is ready to welcome, support and retain people from a wider range of backgrounds.
The case studies I developed on new entrants from non-agricultural backgrounds9 are one example of this kind of resource, and they are freely available to anyone who would like to use them. They are designed to support agricultural and agri-food career learning, to encourage and inspire those from more diverse backgrounds, and help those from agricultural backgrounds gain insight into the experiences of others.
From chance encounters to informed choices
The thread running through my work is the importance of understanding how people encounter opportunity, and how we can create and scaffold this, in relation to agricultural careers. Some people grow up surrounded by agricultural knowledge, networks and role models. Others may only discover the sector by chance: through a course, placement, employer encounter, teacher, adviser, family member, careers resource or case study. If we want a more diverse and sustainable agricultural workforce, chance is not enough.
A research-informed checklist will not solve agricultural workforce challenges on its own. But it could support stakeholders to ask better questions, identify gaps and move from general agreement to practical action, helping educators, employers, sector bodies and careers professionals act on what is already known, supporting a sustainable future for agriculture and those working within it.
Notes
- Securing the future of our food: attracting young people to UK agriculture, Harper Adams University.
- Shaping A Resilient Future: Improving skills in the land-based economy, Lantra, 2026.
- Reflections on Effective Employee Development from New Entrants to the UK Agriculture and Agri-food Sector, GILE Journal of Skills Development, 2025.
- Exploring calling to farming careers in the United Kingdom: a scoping review, British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 2025.
- How to increase children and young adults' understanding and awareness of agricultural careers: the extent of stakeholder consensus, constructiveness and criticism in written submissions to a UK government inquiry, Frontiers in Sociology, 2026.
- Morecambe Bay Curriculum, Lancaster University.
- Using rich picture research to explore how a residential farm visit affected children’s understanding of the farm-to-fork journey and agriculture, The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 2026.
- Supporting students to engage with case studies: a model of engagement principles, Educational Review, 2023.
- Effective leadership, management and development of people working in agriculture and agri-food: supporting new entrants from non-agricultural backgrounds, Claire Toogood, 2023.
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