Historically, undergraduate college students enrolled in natural resources programs came from rural backgrounds and regularly participated in fishing, hunting, and trapping (i.e., consumptive activities). Student demographics shifted considerably over the past 30 years, with more natural resources students coming from urban backgrounds with lower levels of engagement in consumptive activities. Some stakeholders and employers are concerned that misalignment between student participation in consumptive and nonconsumptive wildlife-related activities and priorities of natural resource management authorities might result in contradicting views on consumptive activities. We sought to understand the background, participation in wildlife-related activities, and career decision-making process of undergraduate college students currently enrolled in natural resources programs in the early 21st century. We conducted an online survey of students enrolled in members of the National Association of University Fisheries and Wildlife Programs. We examined how demographics (including personal and family characteristics) and participation in outdoor activities shaped student decisions to pursue natural resources training in college and career choices. We received 1,376 undergraduate respondents (570 males, 806 females) representing universities and colleges in 29 U.S. states. Responding students were primarily Caucasian with the majority between 18 and 22 years old. Most identified that they regularly (>11 hr/month) spent time outdoors, and just over half acknowledged participating in hunting and fishing. Participation in hunting, fishing, and farming were lower among students identifying as female than among those identifying as male. We also found that family participation in hunting and fishing was most influential on both student involvement in consumptive activities and their decisions to pursue natural resources careers. Students with family participation in consumptive activities made natural resources career decisions in high school as compared with students whose families did not participate in consumptive activities, who waited until early college. Our study indicates that about 50% of undergraduate college students enrolled in natural resource programs do not participate in consumptive activities. Our study also highlights the importance of family participation in consumptive activities in determining school and career outcomes, with implications for student recruitment and retention practices for natural resource academic programs and employers in the early 21st century. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

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新千年的自然资源本科生

从历史上看，参加自然资源项目的本科大学生来自农村，经常参加捕鱼、狩猎和诱捕（即消费活动）。在过去的 30 年里，学生人口结构发生了巨大变化，更多的自然资源学生来自城市背景，参与消费活动的程度较低。一些利益相关者和雇主担心，学生参与消耗性和非消耗性野生动物相关活动与自然资源管理当局的优先事项之间的不一致可能会导致对消耗性活动的看法相互矛盾。我们试图了解背景，参与野生动物相关活动，21 世纪初就读自然资源专业的本科生的职业决策过程。我们对参加全国大学渔业和野生动物计划协会成员的学生进行了在线调查。我们研究了人口统计数据（包括个人和家庭特征）和参与户外活动如何影响学生在大学和职业选择中追求自然资源培训的决定。我们收到了代表美国 29 个州的大学和学院的 1,376 名本科生受访者（570 名男性，806 名女性）。做出回应的学生主要是白人，其中大多数年龄在 18 至 22 岁之间。大多数人表示他们经常（>11 小时/月）在户外度过时间，并且超过一半的人承认参与了狩猎和钓鱼。与男性相比，女性学生参与打猎、捕鱼和耕作的比例较低。我们还发现，家庭参与狩猎和捕鱼对学生参与消费活动和他们从事自然资源职业的决定影响最大。与家庭没有参与消费活动的学生相比，家庭参与消费活动的学生在高中时就做出了自然资源职业决定，后者等到大学早期。我们的研究表明，大约 50% 的自然资源专业本科生不参与消费活动。我们的研究还强调了家庭参与消费活动对于决定学业和职业成果的重要性，对 21 世纪初自然资源学术课程和雇主的学生招收和保留做法有影响。© 2020 野生动物协会。