Uncertainties and risks determining individual demand for higher education: A sample from Mersin University

Yükseköğrenime devam etme kararını verirken bireyler kendi yeteneklerini yeterince iyi değerlendirememe, eğitim yatırımının büyüklüğü, gelecekte işgücü piyasalarındaki talep koşulları ve çarpık kalite algısı gibi faktörlerden kaynaklanan birtakım risk ve belirsizliklerle karşı karşıya kalırlar. Bu risk ve belirsizlikler yükseköğretime eksik yatırım yapmaya neden olabileceği gibi program tercihlerini de etkileyebilir. Bu çalışmada Mersin Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi İngilizce Öğretmenliği Bölümünden bir grup öğrencinin bu faktör veya koşullarla ilgili görüşleri bir anket aracılığıyla temin edilmiştir. Sonuçlar, öğrencilerin önceki eğitim yaşantıları dolayısıyla yeteneklerinden haberdar olduklarını, gelecekteki istihdam koşullarını önemsediklerini ve aldıkları eğitimin kalitesiyle ilgili algılarının çarpık olduğunu göstermektedir. Öğrencilerin risk almaktan kaçındıkları halde eğitim maliyetlerinin yükseköğretim tercihlerini etkileyen temel bir faktör olmadığı ortaya çıkmaktadır. Yükseköğretim talebini belirleyen risk ve belirsizliklerin öğrencilerin ortaöğretim ve aile geçmişleriyle birlikte incelenmesi önerilmektedir.

Bireylerin yükseköğretim talebini etkileyen belirsizlik ve riskler: Mersin Üniversitesi örneği

There are some risks and uncertainties like imperfect intrapersonal assessments, size of investment in education, unknown future demand conditions in labor market, and studentsdistorted knowledge about the quality of schooling around decision to enter higher education. These risks and uncertainties may cause underinvestment in higher education and/or influence program choices. In a group of higher education students from Mersin University Department of English Language Teaching (in Mersin, Turkey), opinions on these factors or conditions were gathered through a questionnaire. Results show that students have learned from their previous attainments so they are mostly aware of their abilities, have considered future employment conditions, and their assessments on quality of schooling were distorted. Although they are risk averse, they did not consider the cost of higher education as a criterion for school choice. It is recommended that risks and uncertainties around higher education demand should be examined together with students secondary school and family backgrounds.

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