Attracting Students to the Field of Logistics, Part 2

The significant shortage of supply chain and logistics (SC/L) professionals continues to worsen, so it is imperative that we understand how to attract more college students to the field. Part 1 of this series revealed the characteristics of logistics industry jobs that are most likely to attract students. In part 2, we now explore specifically why SC/L majors are drawn to the field so that we can understand how to strengthen this pool of majors and attract students from other majors. The results from two survey data sets reveal that SC/L majors retain a relatively unique profile, drawn to the field primarily by intrinsic (e.g., challenge, problem solving, interest) and extrinsic (job availability, pay, career options) characteristics. They are also more strongly influenced by professors and their school’s reputation than other business majors. Cluster analysis reveals that some students from other majors indicate a strong desire to join the field, and these students generally fit the SC/L student profile. We use the results to discuss how SC/L programs can not only better market to students throughout the business school but also more effectively reinforce the perceived fit between SC/L student job expectations and SC/L course content.