Turizm Fakültesi Öğrencilerinin Mesleki Sonuç Beklentileri ve Kariyer Planlamalarının İncelenmesi (An Examination of Tourism Faculty Students’ Professional Outcome Expectations and Career Planning)

Abstract

Enhancing productivity in the tourism sector is closely linked to employees’ career planning. In the context of the knowledge society and sectoral transformations, rising career anxiety is thought to alter students’ occupational outcome expectations. Accordingly, this study aims to examine the career planning and professional outcome expectations of Tourism Faculty students. Employing a quantitative relational survey design, the sample comprised 287 students (156 female, 131 male) enrolled in the Tourism Faculties of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Kırklareli University, and Balıkesir University which are members of Trakya Universities Union. Independent-samples t-tests, Mann–Whitney U, one-way ANOVA, and Kruskal–Wallis H tests were conducted to compare mean scores on career planning and professional outcome expectation scales across demographic groups. Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess relationships among the variables. Statistical significance was set at p < .05.Results revealed a positive, significant relationship between students’ career planning and their professional outcome expectations. Significant differences in outcome expectations were observed with respect to university, academic program, class level, and age, with fourth-year students and those in Gastronomy and Culinary Arts reporting higher expectations. No significant differences emerged based on gender or internship participation.The findings indicate that the extent to which tourism students plan their careers consciously has a direct impact on their professional outcome expectations.