In 2017, there has been plenty of good news for the Australian agricultural sector with the value of farm production forecast to increase by 8.3 percent, making it a record production year across a number of crop industries (ABARES, 2017). Although there are concerns that the productivity of Australian farms is plateauing, and understandably there is concerted efforts to improve research and technology to address this issue (Hall, Dijkman, Taylor, Williams, & Kelly, 2017). It is widely recognised that a key component required for driving agricultural production gains is a capable and motivated workforce, both throughout the supply chain and on-farm (Commonwealth of Australia, 2015).

Recognising the value of people in production outcomes, the Cotton Research Development Corporation (CRDC) has been investing in research and developing a workforce development strategy for the cotton industry. In the workforce development strategy action plan, it is noted:

While cotton growers lead the world in many areas of farm management, general evidence suggests that, like other agrifood industries, human resource management is not keeping pace with changing business models.The challenge for the cotton industry is whether the talent for innovation can be adapted to developing a more sustainable approach to securing a workforce (Agrifood Skills Solutions, 2015, p. 19).

A key aspect of persuading and engaging cotton growers to implement changes in their business is the use of evidence specific to the cotton farm context. The CRDC’s (2013a) multi-disciplinary “People” program of research aims to capture evidence to inform the practical implementation of the workforce development strategy and demonstrate the impacts that different aspects of workforce development has in improving cotton farm productivity. The current research project is funded by the CRDC and contributes to this agenda.

In attempting to tackle current on-farm workforce attraction and retention issues, the cotton industry aims for each cotton farm to be viewed as a desirable workplace where employees can achieve overall job satisfaction (Agrifood Skills Solutions, 2015). For the individual, job satisfaction has been linked to a number of positive health and wellbeing outcomes, and is one domain that can influence overall life satisfaction (Faragher, Cass & Cooper, 2005; Ford, Heinen, & Langkamer, 2007; Lent et al., 2005). Job satisfaction also has been linked to worker productivity, commitment and reduced turnover intentions (Judge, Thoresen, Bono, & Patton, 2001; Griffeth, Hom, Gaertner, 2000; Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, & Topolnytsky, 2002). In seeking to understand the antecedents of job satisfaction in the cotton farm context, I argue that there is a need to better understand the psychological factors that impact a farm worker’s career experiences and result in the individual’s attitudinal appraisal. Vocational Psychology and, more specifically, Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) offers an ideal lense through which to view such a phenomena.

This thesis reports on research into the application of the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) of job satisfaction in a sample of Australian farm workers. The SCCT job satisfaction model maps the relationships between five predictor variables: (a) personality and affective traits; (b) goal and efficacy-relevant environmental barriers, supports and resources; (c) self-efficacy; (d) expected and received work conditions and outcomes; and (e) goals and goal-directed activity, and their direct and indirect influence on fostering (or inhibiting) the individual’s experience of work satisfaction (Lent & Brown, 2006a). SCCT is a dominant theory in the Vocational Psychology discipline and has been tested for generalisability in a wide range of cultures and work contexts. As yet, it has not been extensively applied to understand the career motivations of the Australian agricultural workforce. The current research addresses this gap in the vocational psychology literature and attempts to counter the agentic assumptions of the SCCT by proposing the addition of work volition to the model.

The literature on career motivations for Australian agricultural workers is reviewed, informing consideration for the application of the SCCT in this context. The proposed testing of the SCCT Model of Job Satisfaction in the Australian farming context draws on other existing theories and frameworks including, the Psychology of Working, self-efficacy theory, person-organisation fit theory, organisational support theory, and job demands-resources theory. In this way, the SCCT is used to synthesise multiple perspectives of contributing factors to job satisfaction and provide a comprehensive understanding of psychological factors that influence attraction and retention of workers to the Australian agricultural industry and more specifically to the Australian cotton industry.

A sequential mixed methods design is used to position the farm work context as central to testing the SCCT Model of Job Satisfaction. Firstly, semi-structured interviews conducted with Australian cotton farm workers and growers were used to collect data which described the SCCT constructs in the farming context. Following thematic analysis of these data, the face validity of measures that operationalised the SCCT constructs was discussed. Furthermore, a new measure to capture farm worker self-efficacy was developed. Respondent’s descriptions of work volition were used to inform the integration of this construct into the newly proposed SCCT Model of Farm Worker Job Satisfaction. The second study surveyed farm workers and used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test two conceptual models; (a) the SCCT Model of Farm Worker Job Satisfaction and (b) the SCCT Model of Farm Worker Job Satisfaction including work volition.

The results found sufficient evidence to support the generalisability of the SCCT Model of Job Satisfaction to the Australian agricultural context and the cotton farm context. Although, it would appear that the relationships between self-efficacy and the SCCT antecedent and outcome constructs are more complex than the direct relationships hypothesised. While the addition of work volition to the SCCT Model of Farm Worker Job Satisfaction added little to the prediction of reported levels of job satisfaction, this did contribute to the explanation of the relationships between the SCCT predictor variables. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed and recommendations for application of the findings and future research are made.