Date of Award
8-2025
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy - Forestry
Department
Forestry
First Advisor
Matthew McBroom, PhD
Second Advisor
Pat Stephens Williams, PhD
Third Advisor
Ray Darville, PhD
Fourth Advisor
Scott Drury, PhD
Abstract
This study explores the key components that connect natural resource camps, undergraduate persistence, and overall success through gainful employment within the natural resource industry. The aim of this study was to assess early interest and attitudes towards natural resource career pathways and how education interventions shape students’ career outcomes thus leading to overall success. A longitudinal mixed method design was used combining Conservation Careers Camp survey data (n = 39) with institutional records for Forestry majors (n =655) in the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus. Quantitative data was analyzed through IBM SPSS Statistics software using Pearson’s r correlation and ANOVA procedures to examine relationships between data.
Findings revealed that pre-college students who had a genuine interest in the natural resources field were more likely to pursue a degree in natural resources with 82% (n = 32) (vs. 69 %, n = 27, pre-camp) wanting to pursue this career field post camp. Findings also showed there were no significant relationships between test scores associated with SAT, ACT, Texas Success Initiative (TSI), Dual Credit, International Bachelorette (IB) credit and transfer credit) and degree completion of college age students. Results suggested that performance in key pre-requisite courses played a vital role in overall success related to graduation within five years, involvement in major, and employment within six months of graduation. Once they made it to graduation, forestry students who were academically successful and degree completion successful (59%, n = 99), were able to gain employment in the natural resources field within six months of graduation thus making them overall successful (57%, n = 88). If only evaluating by graduation and employment within natural resources within six months of graduation rather than the addition of time to graduation, 98% of students were successful.
Repository Citation
Bishop, Brandy, "An Evaluation of Key Components of Natural Resource Camps, Undergraduate Persistence and Success in Natural Resources" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 636.
https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/636
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Included in
Agricultural Education Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Higher Education Commons, Other Forestry and Forest Sciences Commons
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