Parents' perceptions regarding the institutional image of imam hatip secondary schools (Bolu example)

The main aim of this research is to investigate whether parents' perceptions regarding the institutional image of imam hatip secondary schools that students enrolled by choice show a significant difference depending on gender, educational level, whether they studied at imam hatip secondary schools, the environment they grew up, financial status, the type of imam hatip secondary school in which their children will study. The population of the research consists of the parents of 14 individual Imam Hatip Secondary schools, which have a total number of 1759 students, and operate during the 2020-2021 educational year in the city of Bolu and its counties. On the other hand, the sample consists of 500 parents who were chosen among the population on the basis of random sampling. A survey model was used in the research. "Institutional Image Scale" developed by Gürbüz (2008) was administered to the participants. The data were analyzed using SPSS quantitative analysis tool. When the findings were examined, it was found that, in general, the participants responded to the scale on a level of "usually". According to this result, it can be said that institutional image perception was mostly positive. Furthermore, while institutional image perception does not show any significant difference regarding genders and financial status, in the educational status variable, participants with an undergraduate degree responded more positively than the participants with a primary school degree. There is a significant difference in Service Quality and Work Environment sub-dimension depending on the "the environment they grew up" variable. On the other hand, there are significant differences in only the Service Quality and Financial Solidity sub-dimensions depending on the "Whether the parent studied at Imam Hatip or not" variable. Finally, there are no significant differences in the sub-dimensions other than the Financial Solidity sub-dimension depending on the "the type of Imam Hatip that the student will study" variable. Keywords: Imam Hatip Secondary School, institutional image, scale