Measuring Career Anchor Perceptions of Female Tourist Guide Candidates: A Pilot Study

Introduction

The term career, derived from carrus in the Latin language (Etmyonline, 2023), infers the period of time that an individual spends working or doing a particular thing. Vocationally, it refers to a series of works that a person has in a particular area of work (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 2023). Yarnall (2008) also defines a career as work and non-work experiences that shape an individual's path in life. Since the career encompasses a long period consisting of work and non-work elements, it could affect an individual’s life in a significant proportion. Thus, it should be managed or guided through specific goals (Türkay, 2015). However, the individual and the organization should always endeavor for the career process to succeed. While the individual and the organization undertake joint responsibilities in career management, the employee’s job performance will be much better, and the work satisfaction of the individual, whose talents and skills are discovered at a young age, will increase (Kong et al., 2015).

Although career is a broad term, management of the career is shaped based on the relevant job context. Thus, each profession involves different career goals and career paths. Therefore, the career expectations of individuals vary due to the essential characteristics of the work. Career expectations express an individual's career choices and goals (Rojewski, 2005). During the formation of career expectations, both the individuals and the social environment (family, friends, teachers, sector managers, etc.) have various preliminary inferences about the individual and the individual’s profession. Therefore, career expectations begin to take shape before the career starts and include various predictions for the individual to have a promising career in the future. Career expectations are an essential element that determines what the working life will be like in adulthood (Olenik-Shemesh et al., 2018). Considering that if the career expectations of the individual are not met, he/she will evaluate other career opportunities, career expectations should be well understood, negotiated well, and measured regularly (Knight et al., 2006).

Secondary and graduate education highly affects individuals’ career expectations. Hence, if an individual wants to do high-skilled jobs/professions in the future, he/she should first develop the skills and abilities needed and take a university education beyond the high school level (Kucharvy, 2014). In this context, higher education institutions are undeniable institutions in shaping careers. Universities are also the institutions where people's CA begins to be determined. In his pioneering study, Edgar H. Schein (1978: 125-126) has grounded CA as self-perceived talents & abilities, motives & needs, and attitudes & motives. He also stated that CA is broader than the typical concepts of work motivation & job value. According to Schein, it is almost impossible to predict CA via tests, and it cannot be observed unless a person has work experience. CA concept emphasizes significant interactions among abilities, motives, and values, and it expresses the person’s stability while considering an individual’s change or growth (Schein, 1978). However, Schein indicates the necessity of work experience to observe CA; graduate students could have some CA perceptions due to the existence of applied courses and training opportunities. At this point, stress on CA perceptions of female tourist guide candidates studying for the graduate degree.