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Despite the prevalence of first-year 4-H member dropout across the nation, there is limited research focused on understanding the specific experiences of first-year youth and families in the 4-H program that contribute to dropping out.
The main goal of this research project is to retain more youth in the 4-H community club program nationwide, as well as to recruit more youth to the program annually. This will be achieved through understanding how youth and their families experience the program in both negative and positive ways.
The 4-H Youth Retention Study (YRS) has identified five teams that work on the various aspects of the research project. There are a total of approximately 20 Extension youth development professionals representing eight states currently involved in the research project.
Since the 2015-2016 4-H program year, survey data has been collected from 4371 youth and 4823 adults from up to nine different states including California, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Washington, and Wyoming.
Despite the prevalence of first-year 4-H member dropout, there is limited research focused on understanding the specific experiences of first-year youth that contribute to dropping out. One area that has received attention is the influence of parents.
Parental Expectations and Volunteer Engagement: Results from a Multi-State Youth Retention Study. Research Seminar to be presented at National Extension Conference on Volunteerism (May 2023). Rodriguez, M., McElprang, M., Franks, M., Miller, J.C. Hensley, S.T., Pracht, D.
Posters What Was the Best Part? Expectations Experience in 4-H Joining 4-H Other Information What Did We Miss? What Would You Change? Why Youth Leave 4-H www.facebook.com/4HYRS 4h_youth_retention_study Characteristics of Successful Youth Fact Sheet.
We are an approved Multi-State Research project through NIMSS. Our project title is Understanding Recruitment and Retention in the 4-H Club Program and its official project number is W1023.
