Postgraduate Education and Academic Profession: A Focus Group Study with Postgraduate Geography Students

Abstract

This study investigated what postgraduate-level geography students thought about postgraduate education and the academic profession. The study was conducted at Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University in the fall semester of the 2021–2022 academic year. The study adopted a qualitative case study design. The study group con sisted of seven participants. Data were collected through focus group interviews using an interview questionnaire developed by the researcher. The data were analyzed using content analysis. Participants’ views of postgraduate education were grouped under three main themes: choose to pursue postgraduate education (sub-themes: personal reasons, academic reasons, and social reasons), challenges (sub-themes: challenges regarding admission to the program, personal challenges, f inancial challenges, academic challenges, and challenges regarding academics), and expectations (sub-themes: expectations regarding admission to the program, academic expectations, financial expectations, and expectations from academics). Participants’ views of the academic profession were grouped under three main themes: advantages (sub-themes: personal advantages and social advantages), disadvantages (sub-themes: personal disadvantages and academic disadvantages), and academics’ characteristics (sub-themes: characteristics an academic should and should not have). Participants expect academia to consider their objectives and expectations, set objective criteria for admission, focus on gender equality, provide high-quality counseling services, offer courses based on certain standards and methods, and support them financially and spiritually. Participants also think that academics/advisors should have certain personal and academic characteristics, improve themselves constantly, and communicate with them based on collaboration. One conclusion could be that it would be useful for practitioners and rule makers to take these demands of students into account.