Comparative analysis of occupational prestige perceptions of university students in the effects of cultural regions: America Turkiye sample

The main purpose of this research carried out within the scope of this dissertation is to determine the motivational factors affecting the major selection of university students, their satisfaction with the major they study, the prestige perceptions of the school they study at and their perceptions of occupational prestige, and to investigate the effect of all these factors on their decisions to decide on the profession and the differences between cultures. In this dissertation, correlational research model, which is a quantitative method, is designed. A structural model was developed and tested on the factors effecting the decisions of higher education students who are receiving tourism education to stay in the profession. It was aimed to test the relationship levels of school prestige, academic major motivation and academic major satisfaction factors that mediate the connection between occupational prestige and occupational decision. Quantitative data gathered via questionnaire surveys from students studying in tourism programs in Turkiye and the United States were analyzed with statistical methods. The results of the research revealed that there is a positive relationship between occupational decision, academic major motivation and academic major satisfaction, school prestige and occupational prestige. As a result of the analysis, it is seen that there is a positive relationship between academic major motivation, academic major satisfaction, and college prestige, occupational prestige and occupational decision. The results also revealed that there is a positive relationship between occupational prestige and career decision through academic major choice motivation. The empirical data revealed in the research also showed differences in terms of the factors and sub-dimensions used in the research according to the native countries and gender of the participants. In the light of the research findings, it can be argued that the dissertation study made valuable contributions to the literature in the sense that it pointed out that the factors of school prestige, academic branch selection motivation and academic branch satisfaction, which mediate the connection between the perception of professional prestige and deciding on the profession, should be considered as a variable and emphasized that there are important variables in the context of tourism education.