What is seen in the mirror YÖK holds up to itself?

The great developments of the last twenty years in the field of university expansion, as in all fields, are changing Turkey's sociological fabric at almost the same speed. In this column we often try to address the new situations produced by university expansion, with both their positive and negative features. It is clear that university expansion has made a very important contribution to achieving the ideal of a more open, more democratic and more participatory society.

It was therefore not at all surprising that the resistance shown to university expansion by the forces that lived in fear of democracy for years was related to this. University expansion also pointed to a movement toward equalization in society. Fewer universities formed shields that ensured the protection of the privileges of the elite strata. On top of that, many professions resisted the idea of more universities, more departments or more capacity in departments, within the scope of measures that would restrict entry to the profession as much as possible in order to protect their own privileges.

That there are disciplines that still display this resistance as a reflex despite so many universities may perhaps be the natural behavior of such strata. But if you have a more egalitarian or just approach at the level of governing society, your politics must begin with offering people equality of opportunity. For that reason it is not hard to understand why the wave of university expansion in Turkey has become identified precisely with the politics of the right-wing, conservative opposition against the established status quo. University expansion, which began in 1950, has always faced a secular-Kemalist-leftist opposition. Moreover, this opposition has always been voiced in the name of a better university, a more ideal and higher-quality university, and these discourses reflect nothing other than that self-appointed elitist conservatism.

The university expansion drive, which made a great leap in the Turgut Özal period and turned into a full-fledged project of social development and democratization in the AK Party era, has produced a brand-new society before us today. As we said before, although this drive was a very fitting move against an earlier extremist conservatism, it must be admitted that at the point we have reached it has gone a little too far. We face a picture in which nearly 10 percent of society is studying at university, and this picture has a series of other consequences, from employment management to negative developments in our family structure or chaotic appearances in our cultural resources.

Of course these are consequences that must be managed. Will they be assessed as side effects of a correct policy, or by going back to the beginning on some matters, for instance by abolishing vocational 12-year compulsory education to prevent the congestion at university, through measures such as opening the way to earlier participation in professional and family life? All of this needs to be evaluated, of course by listening to sociology and to impact analyses in the field.

YÖK, as the actor of this university expansion process, also carries out serious studies for monitoring the field. I referred some time ago to its studies on restructuring vocational colleges in line with social needs. The importance of that work lay especially in its aspects aimed at remedying the negative effects of excessive university expansion on employment and on late entry into family life.

YÖK has now carried out the Turkey University Experience Survey (TÜDA) online, with 360 questions in 15 thematic areas and the participation of 264,344 students from 205 universities. Such a survey is quite important at the stage universities have reached, because it is an important reference point in terms of how far the services offered by the growing number of universities meet students' expectations, and the goals universities have or have not achieved.

YÖK President Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar, noting that "students comprehensively evaluated the factors affecting their university experiences," states that TÜDA, which can be described as the voice of students and their participation in new policy making, offers a strategic vision for the transformation of our higher education system and supports continuity- and development-oriented policies across a wide spectrum, from education to research, from internationalization to social inclusiveness

At the end of the quite comprehensive survey, attention is drawn to the fact that universities have areas open to improvement as well as strengths. The results also show the shortcomings that both YÖK and all universities need to correct or develop. In this way, it is aimed that university administrations step outside their traditional perspectives and continue on their way with a management approach that is much more interactive, much closer in interaction with students, instructors and the sector, and that takes their expectations, criticisms and evaluations into account.

In the survey, students were asked 360 questions in 15 thematic areas: quality of education, academic staff, administrative staff, research and projects, digitalization and artificial intelligence, internationalization, health, life satisfaction, social and cultural activities, access, participation and inclusiveness, library and e-resources, campus facilities, career goals, future expectations and habits.

According to the survey results, 72 percent of students are satisfied with their universities, and 64 percent recommend their universities to their acquaintances.

To reach their future goals, students most want to improve their foreign language skills, at 72 percent. This is followed by communication skills at 47 percent and technical skills at 39 percent.

Forty percent of students aim to pursue a master's and doctorate in the future. Thirty-four percent want to work in the public sector, 31 percent in the private sector, and 23 percent are considering entrepreneurship or starting their own business.

According to the survey results, students use the internet most for social media, at 71 percent. This is followed by education at 42 percent, research at 39 percent, shopping at 34 percent, watching videos at 31 percent, listening to music at 18 percent, and following games at 13 percent.

According to the survey results, 83 percent of students use artificial intelligence tools while doing their assignments. Eighty-one percent think that artificial intelligence makes education and teaching life easier. Seventy-five percent state that the use of artificial intelligence tools in education and teaching should be encouraged. While 74 percent of students say artificial intelligence will increase their efficiency in the education process, 73 percent want the use of artificial intelligence technologies in universities to be encouraged more.

Of course, all these results perhaps reflect a positive picture about universities. But when one goes into the depths of the survey results, students also have criticisms, complaints and dissatisfactions on many matters. In particular, the lack of participation in decision-making processes in administration, the feeling of being left almost to their own fate after graduation, and more are also reflected in the surveys. Of course, exactly as it should be.

I would like to congratulate YÖK for this research, in which they showed the courage to hold a mirror up to themselves, with its positive and negative sides.