How Do Turkish University Students Perceive Globalization? A Phenomenographic Analysis

This article aimed to reveal the Turkish university students’ perceptions and perspectives around globalization. For this purpose, a research was carried out among university students and a total of 11,650 students who are studying in 78 different departments of 127 universities participated in the survey. The phenomenographic analysis was used in order to determine the description categories and mental maps. The participants were given 19 statements and asked their level of agreement using a 5 point Likert-type evaluation scale. It was revealed that the university students in Turkey generally understand globalization as the integration, unification progress and development of countries and societies in many areas. They believe in the various benefits of globalization for Turkey especially economically and culturally and do not see it as a threat to the unity of state structure. However, the majority of students still think of globalization as a factor that eliminates local and national culture.