Extended Abstract
The purpose of this study is to find out the influence of personality traits in the field prefences of students of transport services. For this purpose, students of Amasya University Taşova Vocational School make up the sample of the study. A quantitative pattern was established as the work method and the questionnaire technique was pisked as the data collection method. The data was obtained in the Spring of 2015-2016, and collected face to face between the dates 01.05.2016-20.05.2016. The data obtained was analysed via SPSS-22.
In the study, the questionnaire developed by Kusluvan (2000) was edited according the purpose of the study. In addition to this, the statements about transport services were adapted from the questionnaire developed by Bilgin (2011). The data obtained from the questionnaire was subjected to frequency analysis and factor analysis.
When looked at the genders of the students participating in the study, the percentage of women is 24,2 while the percentage of men is 75,8. It was concluded that the majority of the students participating in the study were male. The reason for this can be explained by the fact that the majority of transport services students are male. When looked at another variable, the age factor, it can be said that the majority is between ages 17-22 (83,1 %). While most of the students studying the field can be classified as youth, there are 19 students between ages 23-28 (15,3 %). When we analyse the marital statuses of the students; we can conclude that 4 students are married and 120 students are bachelors. When evaluating the income status; while the ratio of students with incomes between 0-500 TL is 71%, the following income status is 1000 TL and above that is (13,7 %). And in the field analysis, it can be seen that the post services and bus captaincy programs both have62 students each. While the number of first year students are 58, the number of second year students are 66.
The analysis for field preferences showed that 100 students (80,6 %) chose this field willingly, while 24 students (19,4 %) didn’t originally prefer this field. According to the answers to the question “Did you have any information about the field prior to entering,” 86 students had information about the field prior to entering, while 38 students didn’t have information. While 91 students said yes to the question asking if their social circles had any effect on their preferences, 33 students said no. 56,5 % (70 people) of the students mentioned that their grades from YGS had influence on ther choice. Beside this, the right to do civil work had an effect of 94,4 % while the job openings in the private sectore had an effect of 55,6 %.
The personality traits were separated as positive and negative, and according to the analysis of positive personality traits, the statement “I’m generally a trustworthy person” was determined to be the most preferred personality trait with a 51,6 % rate. With this, the statement “I see myself as a trustworthy employee” had 43,5 %, the statement “I make sure to complete an assignment” had 38,7 %, “I see myself as a beneficial and helpful individual” had 37,1% rate. The least preferred statements of positive personality traits were “I see myself as someone with artistic and aesthetical values” 11,3 %, “I see myself as someone equipped” 13,7 %, “I don’t get angry easily” 16,1 %.
According to the analysis done on negative personality traits, the following statements were the most preferred statements; “I always daydream on job” with 29,8 %, “I easily get angry” with 22,2 %, “I’m sometimes hesitant and timid” with 22,6 % rates. Parallel to this, “I’m inclined to find others’ mistakes” had 6,5 %, “I see myself as someone shunned” had 6,5 %, “I always argue with people” had 9,7 %, “I see myself as someone careless” had 10,5 % rates.
When the participants’ personality traits are evaluated by factoral analysis, it can be seen that the highest factor loadings belong to the following statements in order; “transport services require long working hours,” “my personality traits are compatible with this occupation,” “my skills are compatible with this occupation,” “the oppurtunity to start working early has influence on my choice.” Introduction
This research aims to reveal the personality traits of transport services students influential on their choice of field. For this purpose, the answers to the following questions were seeked:
1- What are the positive and negative personality traits of transport services students?
2- What are the participants’ opinion of transport services?
3- What are the factors affecting the participants’ choice of field?
4- Does gender have an effect on the participants’ choice of field?
Looking at the literature, it can be seen that there are not sufficient research on transport services students yet. It is thought that the study will be valuable with this aspect and will contribute to the literature. Methods
In the scope of the study, national and international literature was scanned. Researchs parallel to the study were analysed. Quantitative pattern was preferred and a questionnaire was used as the data collection tool in the scope of the study. The questionnaire method was preferred to obtain more accurate and fast data. In the study, five level Likert scale was used and the scale’s first part was created by Bilgin (2011) and the second part by Kusluvan (2000) and these scales were adapted for transport services for the purpose of the study. While demographic factors were addressed in the first part of the questionnaire prepared, it was aimed to find out the factors influencing the choice of field. And in the second part of the questionnaire, participants’ opinions about 22 statements about transport services were evaluated by strongly disagree (1), strongly agree (5). In the last part of the questionnaire, 43 statements about the personality traits were analysed by strongly disagree (1), strongly agree (5).
Findings
When analysing the demographic factors, it can be seen that the students preferring the transport studies were heavily made up of male students. It can be concluded that there are no female students in the bus captaincy program.
The majority of the participants are between the ages of 17-22. When looked at the program preferences of the participants, it can be seen that 62 people preferred bus captaincy and 62 people preferred post services. While 66 of the participants are second year students, 58 of them are first year students.
The majority of the participants (80,6%) chose the field willingly. In addition to having information about the field prior to applying, participants also stated that their social circles inluenced their choice. Also, 56,5% of them stated that YGS had an influence on their choice. The most effective factor on the choice is the oppurtunity to work in civil services (%94,4). The oppurtunity to find a job in the private sectore had an effect of 55,6%.
When the questions directed to the participants are analysed, it can be seen that the most agreed statements are “I see myself as a trustworthyemployee” and “I make sure to complete an assignment”. In the light of this knowledge, it is concluded that the participants put emphasis on and value the trust factor.
When the questions directed to the participants are analysed, it can be seen that the least agreed statements are “I see myself as someone with artistic and aesthetical values”, “I see myself as someone equipped” and “I don’t get angry easily”. In the light of this knowledge, it can be concluded that the participants see themselves as underqualified to begin a career despite the teorical and practical classes they take.
When the questions directed to the participants are analysed, the statements they reveal their negative traits lines up as “I always daydream on job”, “I easily get angry” and “I’m sometimes hesitant and timid”.
When the questions directed to the participants are analysed, the statements of negative traits they least agree with lines up as “I see myself as someone shunned”, “I always argue with people” and “I see myself as someone careless”.
Conclusion
When the participants’ personality traits are evaluated by factoral analysis, it can be seen that the highest factor loadings belong to the following statements in order; “transport services require long working hours,” “my personality traits are compatible with this occupation,” “my skills are compatible with this occupation,” “the oppurtunity to start working early has influence on my choice.”One of the statements the participants most often preferred is that their character traits are compatible with their field.
