Do organizational factors influencing university students' academic achievement affect their career stress? A study on students of the faculty of sport sciences

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between organizational factors affecting academic achievement and career stress levels among senior students in faculties of sport sciences. Data were collected using the Organizational Factors Affecting Students' Achievement Scale (OFASA) and the Career Stress Scale (CSS) from a sample of 584 students. Independent samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analyses were conducted. According to the findings, significant differences were observed by gender in the OFASA total score and in the subdimensions of Administrative Services and Practices and Physical Environment and Equipment (p<0.05), while no significant differences were found in Professional Competence and Practices or Communication (p>0.05) (Table 3.1). Academic achievement levels indicated significant differences only in the Physical Environment and Equipment subdimension (F=4.141; p<0.05) (Table 3.3). Career goals, willingness to choose the department, and department satisfaction revealed significant differences across all OFASA subdimensions (p<0.05) (Tables 3.4–3.6). Students willing to study a new department differed significantly in the Communication and Physical Environment and Equipment subdimensions (p<0.05) (Table 3.7), while sports participation influenced the Administrative Services and Practices and Communication subdimensions (p<0.05) (Table 3.9). For career stress, only the External Conflict subdimension differed by gender (p<0.05), whereas age showed a low negative correlation with External Conflict (r=-.123; p<0.05) (Table 3.11). Significant differences in CSS subdimensions were found based on career goals, willingness to choose the department, and desire to study a new department (p<0.05) (Tables 3.13, 3.14, 3.16). Correlation analysis showed that organizational factors were positively or negatively associated with various career stress subdimensions (p<0.01) (Table 3.19). Multiple regression analyses revealed that organizational factors significantly predicted Career Uncertainty and Lack of Information (R²=0.101), External Conflict (R²=0.109), and Job-Seeking Pressure (R²=0.149) (p<0.001) (Tables 3.20–3.22). Overall, the findings indicate that organizational factors play a significant role in shaping students' career stress and contribute meaningfully to their academic and professional development processes.