Author(s): Ömür Hakan KUZU
Research mission, the most fundamental element of the mission of higher education institutions, is considered as a touchstone for education and community service missions. The significance attributed to the research mission also constitutes the main theme of the discussions of universities on restructuring. In this study, it is aimed to determine the level of awareness of students, who have received graduate education, on the aims, expectations and problems they face and higher education values. According to the results of in-depth interviews with 21 graduate students in 14 different state and foundation universities in this study conducted in phenomenological research design of qualitative research methods, the main objectives of the participants in the graduate education are determined in the main themes of career and economic contribution, interest in science and research and gaining personal development and experience. The problems that the participants experienced during their graduate education were outlined in three main themes: system-induced, human-induced and external problems. The second main finding in the study was determined that the level of awareness of the participants about the changing higher education process was not high. Regarding the new concepts and trends of higher education, it was observed that the participants commented mostly on the concepts of competitive-innovative university and academic freedom. Findings about the problems of graduate education in the study were evaluated comparatively with previous studies the findings about the changing values of higher education are discussed within the framework of the theoretical debates in the literature and agenda due to the lack of such a study in the literature
The Journal of International Social Research received 8982 citations as per Google Scholar report
