A research to measure the career expectations of distance education students: the case of Istanbul University AUZEF

It is known that the process of social change and transformation causes radical changes that can be seen in all layers of the social system in the short, medium and long term. Rapid developments especially in the field of digital transformation penetrate all areas of life, destroying traditional structures and paving the way for innovations. It is not possible to think that education will not be affected in the face of transforming society and digitalization. Distance education, which has a very old historical origin and has become applicable all over the world, especially with the global epidemic in recent years, is gradually rising to a dominant position in the field of education and attracting attention. While the demand for distance education, which provides the opportunity to learn independently from time and place, is increasing day by day, it also becomes very important to make a difference in the field of employability. Distance education, which includes the philosophy of lifelong learning, plays an important role in increasing the knowledge, skills and competencies of individuals. The main purpose of this study is to reveal the relationship between distance education and career expectation and to evaluate the effect of the education received by the students who continue their distance education on career expectations in terms of demographic variables. At the same time, the reasons for preferring distance education constitute another aim of the study. In line with these purposes, a field study was conducted with the participation of 6875 students continuing their education at Istanbul University Open and Distance Education Faculty. In addition, "career expectation scale" and "distance education evaluation scale", which have been proven to be reliable and valid, have been developed to be used in the research. Looking at the results of the research, the opinions of the students who continue their distance education about distance education have been determined and it has been concluded that their expectations for their careers are not low and they are aware that they can achieve what they want in terms of their careers if they improve themselves. In general, it has been determined that the evaluations of the students who continue their distance education towards distance education are positive. However, it was seen that the majority of the participants in the study preferred distance education to contribute to their intellectual knowledge.