Determination of the Working Status of Ulus Vocational School Graduates and Evaluation of Their Opinions on Vocational Education

Abstract

This study aims to determine the employment status of the students who graduated from Ulus Vocational School (UMYO) between 2013-2020 and to reveal the graduate profile by evaluating the factors affecting their employment. No sampling method was used in the study, and all 456 graduates were tried to be reached. The data of the study were collected using the telephone survey method through the questionnaire created by the researchers. 51.9% of the graduates started working within one year. When their current employment status was evaluated, it was found that 62% of them worked in different sectors, and 38% of them did not work. Only 27% of employed graduates work in a job related to their department. Despite this, 91% of the students stated that they were satisfied with the education they received in the department. From the findings, suggestions have been developed for updating the curriculum to support the quality of vocational education given in UMYO and to increase the preferability of UMYO graduates in business life. In addition, the data of this study contributed to creating an alumni information system that can provide information about business life to students who will graduate from UMYO.