The effect of the meaning of working on the perception of profession in academicians

The basic roles of the university institution have been shaped by historical and social developments. While the main purpose of the university was education and training, which started to be institutionalized in the medieval period, with the understanding of the second generation university, the research role became one of the main missions of the university. In the third generation understanding that represents today's university structure, what is expected from universities is the creation of commercial value in addition to the production and transfer of knowledge. It is in this environment that a number of new elements emerge that shape the professional perceptions of academics. In this direction, it is aimed to determine the perceptions of academicians about their profession and the dimensions of the meaning of work and to determine whether the meaning of work is effective on professional perception. In addition, it is aimed to reveal whether demographic and personal characteristics cause any difference between the perception of profession and the meaning of work. For these purposes, the study was carried out in accordance with the quantitative research method. 936 academicians working in different geographical regions of Turkey participated to the research. Research data were obtained only from academics working in Turkey in the 2019-2020 academic year. Questionnaire was preferred as the data collection technique. Data were analyzed using SPSS, AMOS and MAXQDA packages. According to the results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, the perception of academician profession; It has been seen that it consists of 6 dimensions: salary motivation, affirmative educator role, autonomy, recognition motivation, market collaborations and identification. The meaning of working, has been seen that it consists of 5 dimensions: internal expectations, instrumental expectations, social norms, working environment and physical conditions As a result of the structural equation model established in the AMOS program, it was seen that the meaning of the study was effective on the perception of the profession of academics. MANOVA analyzes were carried out in the SPSS program in order to reveal whether demographic and personal characteristics cause a difference in the perception of academician profession and the meaning of working. It was seen that only the fact that the master's and doctorate degrees were made abroad or in Turkey did not cause a significant difference on the perception of the profession and the meaning of the work. The open-ended question in the survey "What does work mean to you?" was analyzed in the MAXQDA program. According to the results of the analysis, the academicians emphasized the aspect of producing/creating value the most.