Recruitment problems and the shortage of junior corporate farm managers in Germany: the role of gender-specific assessments and life aspirations

Replacements for corporate farm managers are increasingly hard to find. At the same time, there is a large pool of potential managers that has been hardly tapped into: young female professionals. Focusing on the supply side of the labor market for farm managers, we investigate how gender-specific life aspirations impact occupational intention. To explain gender-specific occupational intention, we operationalize two conceptual frameworks: (1) a behavioral economic conceptualization that focuses on the material and non-material cost and benefits associated with occupational choice (e.g., income, social reputation, inner contentment), and (2) a psychological conceptualization based on the theory of planned behavior. Our analysis of survey data among agricultural students shows that participating women are less inclined to pursue a farm manager position than participating men for two main reasons: first, they expect less internal benefits (in terms of inner contentment and enjoyment of carrying out the day-to-day tasks) from such a position. Second, they believe to be less suited to meet the professional requirements (i.e., they have lower self-efficacy evaluations).