Academic career awareness and academic career interest among Turkish undergraduate students

This study aimed to determine to what extent undergraduate students’ level of academic career awareness and demographic variables predicted their level of academic career interest. The sample consisted of 3,696 students studying at 16 faculties, who were 3rd- and 4th-year undergraduate students from Akdeniz University in the fall semester of 2019–2020, and where the necessary permissions could be obtained from the faculty deanships for the application of the scales. The Academic Career Awareness Scale and Academic Career Interest Scale were used as data collection tools. The results obtained from the study were as follows: the level of undergraduate students’ academic career awareness was low and their level of academic career interest was above average. It was determined that the level of academic career interest of the undergraduate students changed according to their gender, grade level and their level of academic career awareness. When the demographic variables were measured, the level of academic career awareness explained the level of academic career interest. According to this result, it could be said that undergraduate students should have knowledge about academic career in order to be interested in an academic career. Keywords: Academic career, academic career interest, academic career knowledge, academic career awareness, postgraduate education