Comparing Theories of Planned Behavior and Social Cognitive Career Theory in Predicting Agricultural Students’ Intention towards Self-employment in Khuzestan Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University

The issue of unemployment and the increase in the number of university graduates is one of the most difficult challenges facing Iran. So that this issue has become one of the most significant problems mental for planners, policymakers, parents and young people, especially college graduates. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the power of two theories of planned behavior and social cognitive career theory in predicting agricultural students’ intention towards self-employment in Khuzestan Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University. The study population was undergraduate students of Khuzestan Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University (N=2233). After a screening process 23 questionnaires had to be removed due to inconsistencies and missing data. The statistical sample was 304 students that determined by Krejcie and Morgan table, and a random sampling method was used to collect data from students using questionnaire. The face validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts. The reliability of the main scales of the questionnaires was examined by teta coefficients, which ranged from 0.70 to 0.90, indicating the tool of study is reliable. The results of structural equation modeling showed that social cognitive career theory with 85 percent prediction of self-employment intention variable was more powerful than theory of planned behavior in predicting intention towards self-employment.