Social media also determines professions!

Social media also determines the career preferences of the candidates. According to Education Specialist Ertugrul Tut, social media pressure has a lot of impact on the candidate's choice of profession, whether they are aware of it or not. Pointing out that the trending professions can become the target of the candidate without examining the trending professions, Tut notes that the rapid change in trends can push the candidate out of their field, and with this result, they can turn to employment outside the field.

Education Specialist Ertuğrul Tut, who is Director of Educational Institutions and Guidance Services at Üsküdar University, explained the role of social factors in determining the professional preferences of young people.

"Career preferences have become a digital imposition"

Education Specialist Ertuğrul Tut stated that career preferences have become a digital imposition rather than a free choice and expressed that "Social media pressure has a lot of impact on the choice of profession consciously or unconsciously. The cultural capital of the candidate who will choose a profession also determines this orientation. Trending professions become the target of the candidate without much discussion. In fact, the process starts with the family, continues with the education system, and finally is shaped by the social environment and social media. By preventing the candidate from being a subject, it is ensured that they become the object of this process."

"Societal expectations are also in pursuit of what is trendy"

Noting that societal expectations also follow the trend, Education Specialist Ertuğrul Tut stated that "Individual expectations have become much more important than societal expectations. In other words, the Department of Aerospace Engineering, which has not been on the list of many students so far, will probably become popular in the future. The reason for this is that Türkiye's work in this field resulted in sending people into space, and this process took place on social media a lot from the beginning to the end. Of course, there are good aspects of this choice, but how many of the graduates will be able to work in their field? This is the most important question that needs to be addressed. How suitable is the short-term popular profession for the personality structure of the people who will perform that profession? How much emphasis is placed on this? The answers to these questions also determine whether or not a conscious career choice is made."

"Young people want to step up from the class they are in"

Education Specialist Ertuğrul Tut, who also stated that class events also played an important role in determining this process, said that "In a small-scale preliminary study we conducted, the picture that emerged in the expectations of middle-class university students about business life was parallel to the economic depression. On the one hand, they want to move up the ladder from the class they are in, they do not want to do the same jobs as their families, but on the other hand, their salary expectations force them to stay in the same class when they graduate. This process also contains contradictions. It brings with it problems such as unhappiness, hopelessness, and inability to plan a future professional career. In fact, even being able to work in one's own field, leaving aside the salary income, makes the graduate feel lucky and successful in their field."

"The trend is changing before graduation"

Pointing out the speed of change in the trends in career choices, Education Specialist Ertuğrul Tut state that "The change is quite fast that a trendy department is chosen, and the trend changes before graduation. Then, the student gets confused before they become competent in their field, while thinking 'Can I keep up with this change'. The process can push the person out of their field and the result is employment outside the field.

"We live in times when everyone is everything and at the same time nothing"

In this process, the effects of social media, the imposition of economic conditions, individualization, and cultural capital are very high. For example, a graduate of Turkish language teaching starts their master's degree in psychology and positions themselves as competent in the field by starting to produce psychological analysis content on social media. We can multiply such examples. We live in times when everyone is everything and at the same time nothing.

The general consensus is that the job qualifications are the same in terms of wages, especially for the segment we call the white-collar middle class. In general, children from middle-class families become the new wage earners of their class. In fact, the speed we are talking about also causes a 'stagnation' and 'uniformization'."

Why is the number of young people dreaming of abroad increasing?

Education Specialist Ertuğrul Tut expressed that "If economic development is a total recovery process, it can appeal to all segments of society; however, if the development of a certain segment is in question, it will mean that the number of young people who dream of abroad will continue to increase. Increasing the existing departments in universities in terms of quality, not quantity, in line with social needs will also contribute to the recovery of professional reputations. Success can be achieved by taking care of this phenomenon."

 

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)