Research Information System
YUKSEKOGRETIM DERGISI, no.1, 2025 (ESCI)
Individual career management involves exploring personal and environmental factors and setting realistic, achievable goals. The career self-management approach holds the individual solely responsible for career behaviors while also considering external factors. However, career development and management have been particularly challenging in developing countries due to the increasing surplus in labor markets. Economic and political factors in such countries may lead individuals to demonstrate more proactive behaviors. In T & uuml; rkiye, although the current career literature focuses on the concept of career for individuals entering the labor market, through various conceptual and empirical studies, the meaning of other self-career management concepts has not been sufficiently explored. Therefore, this study examines university students' perspectives on career self-management elements, including the notions of career, career planning, career exploration, and goal setting. Data were collected from 386 university students at two different public universities, and metaphor analysis-a method associated with the phenomenological approach-was used. As a result of the data analysis, four themes were identified: the meaning of career, the meaning of career planning, the meaning of career exploration, and the meaning of goal setting, along with various subcategories under each theme, in alignment with career literature. The most common metaphors regarding careers were "marathon" and "stairs." Gaining insights into the perspectives of the emerging workforce on career concepts may provide valuable information for higher education institutions and career counselors.