The relationship between university students' awareness of academic career and the quality of service they receive in higher education

In this study, it was aimed to examine the relationship between university students' satisfaction levels with service quality in higher education and their academic career awareness. In this direction, correlational survey model was utilized in the current research based on quantitative method. The research universe is only 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students studying at Sakarya University in the Faculty of Educational Sciens, Faculty of Theology and Faculty of Engineering in the 2022/2023 academic year. The sample of the study consists of 390 students selected among these students. To collect data "Personal Information Form", "Service Quality in Higher Education Scale" and "Academic Career Awareness Scale" were used by the researcher. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the validity of the data collection tools, and Cronbach Alpha internal consistency coefficient was calculated in terms of reliability. The findings showed that the validity and reliability criteria were met. The findings can be summarized as follows. Sakarya University students' perceptions of service quality in higher education were found to be at the level of "satisfied" in all sub-dimensions. It was observed that the academic career awareness of Sakarya University students was at the level of "I know something about it, but I can only explain it as general information" in the sub-dimension of "awareness of the conditions for graduating from graduate education", while all other sub-dimensions were at the level of "I have heard but I do not know the details". Service quality satisfaction levels do not show a statistically significant difference in terms of variables such as gender, grade level, faculties of education and reasons for choosing these faculties. However, there is a statistically significant difference according to the variables such as the reasons for choosing the university, the frequency of using the library, gym, dining hall and other campus facilities. On the other hand, while the academic career awareness of university students did not show statistically significant differences in terms of gender, faculties they studied and reasons for choosing the department they studied, it was seen that there were statistically significant differences in all sub-dimensions according to the variables of using social areas. Finally, it can be said that there is a positive, statistically significant and moderate relationship between students' perceptions of service quality in higher education and students' academic career awareness. The findings were discussed in the context of the existing literature and recommendations were presented based on the research findings.