The future of higher education in Turkey: An analysis through strategic plans

Strategic management is a management discipline that encompasses the process of determining the objectives of an institution, business or organization, managing its resources, making strategic decisions and controlling the implementation process. Strategic management is necessary to increase an organization's competitiveness, ensure long-term success and anticipate future uncertainties. Therefore, strategic management allows managers to engage in strategic planning by identifying long-term goals rather than making tactical decisions to achieve future goals. Strategic management is a process that enables the organization to achieve its goals by using its resources effectively. This process includes determining the strategic goals of the organization by taking into account the changes in the sector in which the organization is located, planning the actions required to achieve these goals, implementing them and evaluating the results. The aim of this study is to analyze the current state and future of higher education in Turkey through strategic plans. The sample of the study consists of universities located in 81 provinces. The mission and vision statements and SWOT analyses in the strategic plans of the universities were examined using the descriptive analysis method and evaluated based on the key concepts created. As a result of the analysis, the following results were obtained; national and international standards should be observed to increase academic quality, more budget should be allocated to higher education institutions, research and innovation activities should be supported and a student-centered approach should be adopted, cooperation between higher education institutions should be increased, joint projects, programs and research should be developed, and cooperation with industry and the business world should be increased, reforms should be carried out on management and financing issues in higher education, and financial and administrative autonomy in higher education should be further strengthened.