University Students' Employment Anxiety and Ways of Coping in the Context of Incomplete Learning During the Pandemic Period: A Qualitative Research

Abstract

University students' employment anxiety is affected by economic crises, pandemics, lack of experience, incomplete learning, unemployment rates of the country, the department of study, occupational goals and environmental factors of individuals. This study aims to determine which factors affect university students' employment anxiety and to explore the impact of learning losses experienced during the pandemic on employment anxiety and the coping strategies developed by students. For this reason, qualitative research method was used in the current study. In the research, categories and codes were created using the Maxqda 2022 package program. Research data were collected through two different methods: focus-group interviews and semi-structured interviews. The sample of the study consisted of 16 participants, 9 female and 7 male. As a result, in addition to individual and environmental factors, incomplete learning experienced with the pandemic period affects university students' employment anxiety, and students have developed various ways of coping with them.