Comparison of Forest Engineering Students’ Attitudes towards Their Education and Future Jobs: Case Results from Turkey

Seçil Yurdakul Erol
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Seçil Yurdakul Erol: Department of Forest Policy and Administration, Faculty of Forestry, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul 34473, Turkey

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Forestry is a complex multidimensional discipline that implies a broad job description and task variety for forest engineers. Thus, the scope of professional forestry education is expanding and diversifying. It is essential to determine the students’ attitudes towards their education and future jobs to develop focused solutions in forestry education. In this context, the present study aims to analyze the attitudes of forest engineering students towards their education and future jobs. This study evaluated and compared the students’ attitudes over a 10-year period through questionnaires administered to senior forest engineering students of the Faculty of Forestry at Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa (IUC). It was revealed that, during job selection, non-job factors (39.5%) were nearly as influential as job-related factors (53.7%). Moreover, students’ career plans were based mainly on working in public institutions (41.4%) and simply doing their job (78.1%). The results showed that students’ views on education have improved over time; however, they have doubts about their readiness to succeed in their careers (M = 3.41) and the adequacy of their knowledge and experience level (M = 2.95). Their attitudes on their future job were not wholly positive: They have doubts about finding a job (M = 2.90), having satisfactory working conditions (M = 3.38), and income (M = 3.57). The results of this study can support decision-making in forest education and human resources in forestry.

Keywords: forest engineering; forestry education; forestry education-related attitudes; job-related attitudes; human resources in forestry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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