Impact of choosing a profession on hopelessness level of first year university students

Abstract

Objective: Adults spend most of their lives practising their profession. Youngsters may not be able to choose their professions by their desire and willpower. The study was planned to identify freshmen's hopelessness levels and the affecting factors in Turkey. Method: This descriptive study was conducted on 271 students, who were willing to participate in the study and were accessible during the research. Participant Information Form and Beck Hopelessness Scale were administered for data collection. Results: Mean age of participants were 19,58 +/- 1,40 (17-29); 81,2% (n=220) was female and 18,8% (n=51) was male. Cronbach's Alpha of Beck Hopelessness Scale was 0,83 for the study population. The mean total score provided from Beck Hopelessness Scale was 3,50 +/- 3,55 (0-20). Hopelessness score of the male participants was higher than that of the female participants (p<0,05). Total mean score of Beck Hopelessness Scale was significantly different between divisions and students who didn't choose divisions voluntarily (p<0,001). Mean scores were higher in low income even though no significantly difference between family income and total hopelessness score (p>0,05). Conclusion: It's thought that to be helpful to establishing much more effective counselling systems according to based on students' interests and skills and, to improving scholarship opportunities for students of low income families would be helpful.