Analyzing Factors Influencing Secondary Agricultural Education Teachers’ Skill Level in Welding

Abstract

The effects of secondary agricultural education teachers’ demographic characteristics on their propensity to become more skilled in welding were examined by estimating an ordered logit model for teachers in Northeast Texas. The sample of
teachers was derived from the Agricultural Mechanic Competency Development survey for 2015. According to the estimation results, relative to female, being male was positively associated with being more skilled in welding. Compared to having a Master’s degree, having only a Bachelor’s degree was negatively associated with being more skilled in welding. Having five or less years of teaching positively affected becoming more skilled in welding compared to having 16 or more years of teaching. Also, relative to having taken no agricultural mechanic courses in college, having taken three or four, and five or more agricultural mechanic courses in college were positively related to becoming more skilled in welding.