4-H recruitment possibilities among Tennessee suburban seventh grade students : a focus group study

When compared to junior (5th or 6th grade) 4-H members, the number of junior high (7th or 8th grade) 4-H members is significantly lower. In fact, in Tennessee, a major decline in enrollment occurs during the transition between the sixth and seventh grades. Additionally, very few members who live in suburban areas, an area with large member potential, are represented in the enrollment figures. As the enrollment of older members declines, the need to discover ways of recruiting new members into 4-H in order to boost long-run teen enrollment is apparent.

The purpose of this study was to reveal suburban students' perceptions about 4-H, suggestions that would make 4-H more appealing to a similar group of students, as well as reveal programming alternatives for the seventh grade suburban population in hopes of increasing senior participation by retaining newly recruited members. The objectives of this study were to: (1) inquire about the kinds of groups and/or clubs that non-4-H members participate in and their motivation behind participation in this group; (2) examine the awareness of non-4-H members of 4-H in their school; (3) reveal the students' perceptions about 4-H; (4) infer other students' perceptions in the school about 4-H through the focus group participants; (5) reveal the reasons these students do not participate in 4-H; (6) reveal the degree and manner in which other people influence the participants' decisions not to join 4-H; (7) reveal the activities the participants suggest 4-H should offer; (8) reveal participants' perceptions of what types of incentives would encourage participation in 4-H; and (9) reveal participants' suggestions of how 4-H can ultimately increase participation.

The conclusions of this study were based upon the participants' responses. First of all, generally most students in the focus groups were involved in the same types of activities suggesting they are heavily influenced by their physical and socio-emotional environments. They initially choose to participate in a club or group because their friends invite them but choose to continue to participate if they view the purpose as meaningful and have fun. Generally, most students attributed 4-H with projects associated with learning and "making stuff." To a lesser extent, some felt 4-H's activities were largely agricultural and some associated 4-H with contests and awards such as ribbons. However, they did not associate 4-H with development of skills such as leadership, communications, or decision making. Furthermore, they were not aware of the current activities of 4-H and speculated that 4-H had a lot of environmentally beneficial projects. Approximately half of the students stated 4-H was boring and the other half perceived 4-H as being fun. However, when they were asked to report other students' perceptions, they believed most other students felt 4-H was boring revealing a discrepancy between their own reported perceptions and those they believed others had. They also cited peer pressure as the main reason students did not join 4-H but felt students who were high achievers would be more likely to join 4-H. They also cited friends or peers as the most influential entities in their decision to participate in 4-H. Parents and teachers were also reported to be an influence to a lesser extent. Peers were the most influential because of the social aspect they provided the student. Animal, bicycle, and summer camp activities were perceived to be the most interesting probably because of their implication of hands-on activities, fun, and group involvement. The participants also expressed a desire for outdoor projects and new animal projects such as reptiles and endangered species. They would also like to reinforce learning activities with field trips. They implied that by having other students endorse and advertise 4-H, more students would be interested in 4-H. They also stated most people participate in in-school 4-H meetings to "get out of class" or socialize but if 4-H was engaging enough, students would stay after school for 4-H. Recommendations included updating curriculum and restructuring the planning and marketing of meetings as well as changing the content, organization, and philosophy of meetings.