VCE agriculture: Enrolments up, girls outnumber boys
Student interest in high school ag programs has been flagging for years, but a jump in female enrolments may signal a turnaround.
Interest in studying VCE agriculture and horticulture is slowly on the rise, with girls leading the charge back to the subject over the past year.
Statistics show 238 students were enrolled in units 3 and 4 of the Year 12 course last year, up on the previous year’s 188 students.
The jump of 50 was made up largely of females, with 148 girls studying the subject compared to 89 males.
Drouin Secondary College Year 12 student Larah Thexton is one of this year’s VCE ag cohort, who is continuing the female trend.
Larah loves law, and loves cows, but never imagined she’d discover a career path that combined the two.
That was until she enrolled in VCE agriculture and horticulture, and found out how many study options and job prospects there were in the industry.
“I’m planning to do a double degree in both agriculture and law,” said the 17-year-old, who grew up on a dairy farm at Drouin South.
Victorian Association of Agriculture and Horticulture Educators president Shona Janky said the female trend was not new.
Ms Janky teaches agriculture and horticulture at Woodleigh School at Langwarrin South on the Mornington Peninsula, managing the school’s 6ha farm. She said girls had outnumbered boys in ag classes consistently since she started at the school five years ago.
Drouin Secondary College agriculture teacher Julie Pilgrim-Cayzer said the same was true at the West Gippsland school, where Larah was a student.
“In my Year 12 class, I have three boys and the rest are girls. In Year 11, there are three boys out of 13,” she said. “It has pretty much been like that for the 15 years I have been teaching.”
Ms Pilgrim-Cayzer said the school brought in many industry guest speakers and former students, including some who had mixed law and agriculture in their careers, which offered inspiration for Larah.
Larah said the course showed her the benefit of legal expertise to farming operations, and inspired her to think about how she could incorporate ag into her future.
“What really drew me to study agriculture in Year 10 was the fact I grew up on my grandparents’ dairy farm as a child,” she said. “Doing agriculture this year, it has opened my eyes to how many careers there are.
“When I saw that I could do a double degree, I thought if I can combine the two I definitely would.”
Larah said the VCE course also sparked an interest in horticulture and plant science, which she previously knew little about.
“Because I already know so much about the dairy side it is fun to learn something new,” she said.
Plus, it planted the seed about how she could make a difference in the future.
“We had people come in and talk about how they use potato scraps to make Glad Wrap,” she said. “I’d really love to go into researching food waste and how to use waste from farming to improve the environment.”
Ms Pilgrim-Cayzer said ag classes were available from Year 9 in the dairy-farming community.
She said the gender balance was more equal in lower years, but at VCE girls dominated, often showing a strong interest in animal health and careers related to veterinary medicine, environmental science or animal nutrition.
“It probably reflects what goes on in industry,” said Ms Pilgrim-Cayzer, whose family also runs a dairy farm.
“I feel like I’m stereotyping a bit. But the boys at Drouin seem to want to go into a trade. They want to become a plumber or diesel mechanic.
“The girls are interested in vet nursing, ag science, that sort of thing.”
Drouin Secondary is one of 28 schools across the state that offered VCE agriculture and horticulture at Year 12 level last year.
Statewide, the course has struggled to bolster numbers for the past decade, with educators saying a shortage of qualified ag teachers and lack of facilities makes it difficult to attract more students.
“Throughout Victoria that has been a problem for years,” Ms Pilgrim-Cayzer said. “Drouin hasn’t declined. It is finding teachers who are interested and passionate about it, that is what it is all about.”
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