Identifying Strategies to Increase the Desire of Rural Youth to Live and Work in the Village After Completing University Education

In the last few decades, the migration and departure of young people from the village, especially young people who have been educated in the field of agriculture, has taken an upward trend. This can cause an unsettled situation in terms of the average age of farmers, a decrease in the dynamic population in the villages, a decrease in the production of agricultural products, and a weakening of the rural economy in the villages. The purpose of this study was to identify and categorize strategies to increase the willingness of rural youth to live and work in the village after university graduation. The population of this study consisted of rural students studying in the fields of Agriculture at the University of Zanjan (N=210). The sample size was determined using the Krejces & Morgan table (n=135) and stratified random sampling method. A questionnaire was used to collect data, and its validity was confirmed by the opinion of relevant faculty members and its reliability was confirmed by using the pre-test and calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Based on the results of the factor analysis, the most important ways to increase the willingness of rural youth to live and work in the village after university graduation were summarized in the two factors including; facilitating the sale of products and employment in the village and the development of public and private investment in the village and agriculture, which are these two factors in total explained 70.22% of the variance of the ways to increase the willingness of rural youth to live and work in the village after completing university education. Based on the results, it is recommended to create small-scale transformation and complementary industries in the village by the public and private sectors, along with the direct and indirect purchase of surplus products of the villagers.