Student Owned Enterprises [microform] : Entrepreneurship / Martin B. McMillion

A review of the literature indicates that individual ownership enterprises (projects) have been the dominant type of supervised occupational experience (SOE) program for agricultural students historically and up to the present time. These projects thrive most in small rural communities inhabited by farmers and small business owners. All the correlations of factors associated with good SOE programs point to the small rural area; success is likely if the school is small, the area is rural, the teacher had vocational agriculture as a student, the teacher was farm reared, lives close to the school, often visits students at home, has a good attitude about ownership projects, gives grades on SOE projects, is involved with fairs and shows, and devotes class time to SOE. Supportive parents and informed administrators are also positive factors. The students who come from this rural farm background are most likely to work in an agricultural occupation. Not determined in the research is whether students with strong farm backgrounds take agricultural jobs because of experiences or desires or because they do not want to leave the home area and jobs in their community are predominantly agricultural. It is also not known whether entrepreneurship experiences without a rural community, home farm, and supportive family are still associated with the kinds of benefits found. (31 references.) (KC)