Social media also determines candidates' career choices. According to Education Expert Ertuğrul Tut, social media pressure has a significant impact on a candidate's career choice, whether consciously or unconsciously. Tut points out that trendy professions can become a candidate's goal without being thoroughly examined, and the rapid change in trends can push the candidate out of their field, leading to out-of-field employment.
Education Expert Ertuğrul Tut, Manager of Educational Institutions and Guidance Services at Üsküdar University, explained the role of social factors in determining young people's career choices.
“Career choices have become a digital imposition”
Education Expert Ertuğrul Tut stated that career choices have moved beyond being a free selection and have become a digital imposition, saying, “Social media pressure has a significant impact on career choice, whether consciously or unconsciously. The cultural capital of a candidate making a career choice also determines this direction. Trendy professions become the candidate's goal through 'consensual' imposition, without being thoroughly examined. In fact, the process starts with the family, continues with the education system, and is finally shaped by the social environment and social media. By preventing the candidate from being the subject, they are made into the object of this process.”
“Societal expectations also follow what is trending”
Education Expert Ertuğrul Tut noted that societal expectations also follow what is trending, stating, “Individual expectations have become much more important than societal expectations. That is, the Department of Space Engineering, which has not been much dwelled upon until now and is not on many students' lists, will likely become popular in the future. The reason for this is that Turkey's work in this field resulted in sending a person to space, and this process received extensive coverage on social media from beginning to end. Of course, this choice has its good sides, but how many of the graduates will be able to work in their own field? This is the most important question that needs to be addressed. How suitable is a temporarily popular profession for the personality structure of those who will practice it? How much attention is paid to this? The answers to these questions also determine whether a conscious career choice has been made.”
“Young people want to climb the ladder from their current class”
Education Expert Ertuğrul Tut, who also stated that class-based issues play an important role in determining this process, said, “In a small-scale preliminary study we conducted, the picture that emerged regarding the expectations of middle-class university students about working life was parallel to the economic crisis. On the one hand, they want to climb the ladder from their current class and do not want to do the same jobs as their parents, but on the other hand, their salary expectations after graduation force them to remain in the same class. This process also contains contradictions; it brings along problems such as unhappiness, hopelessness, and the inability to plan a future professional career. Even putting aside salary returns, being able to work in one's own field makes a graduate feel lucky and successful.”
“The trend changes before graduation”
Education Expert Ertuğrul Tut, pointing to the speed of change in career choice trends, stated the following:
“Change is so rapid that a trendy department is chosen, and the trend changes before graduation. Then the student gets confused before becoming competent in their field, and while thinking 'Can I keep up with this change,' the process can push the person out of their own field, resulting in out-of-field employment.
“We live in times where everyone is everything and at the same time nothing”
In this process, the effects of social media, individualization imposed by economic conditions, and cultural capital are very significant. For example; a Turkish language teaching graduate starts doing a master's degree in psychology and positions themselves as competent in the field by starting to produce psychological analysis content through social media. We can multiply such examples. We live in times where everyone is everything and at the same time nothing.
The zeitgeist, especially for the segment we refer to as the white-collar middle class, is the homogenization of job qualifications in terms of salary. Generally, children of middle-class families become the new salaried employees of their own class. In fact, the speed we are talking about also leads to 'stagnation' and 'uniformity.'”
Why is the number of young people dreaming of going abroad increasing?
Education Expert Ertuğrul Tut said, “If economic development is an overall improvement process, it can appeal to all segments of society, but if development of only a certain segment is in question, it will mean that the number of young people dreaming of going abroad will continue to increase. Increasing the existing university departments not quantitatively but qualitatively in line with societal needs will also contribute to the restoration of professional prestige. Success can be achieved by making this phenomenon a concern.”