Decoding Career Intentions: Key Determinants of Architecture Students' Choices in the Construction Industry

In parallel with the global landscape, the architecture profession is losing its appeal in Turkey, as evidenced by a decline in school occupancy rates to 79%. Accordingly, the Higher Education System (Y & Ouml;K) has decreased architecture program quotas by an average of 20%. This study establishes a comprehensive model outlining the key factors influencing these orientations to better understand architecture students' career paths. This paper investigates how architecture students' perceptions of the construction industry influence their career choices, particularly their likelihood of staying in the sector. The devised model is empirically validated via data collected from 419 online survey questionnaires. Utilizing SPSS 23 and LISREL 8.8 software, a range of analyses, including frequency, validity, reliability, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling, are conducted. The model posits "intention to stay in the sector (IS)" as a dependent latent variable, affected by independent latent variables like "nature of the profession (NP)", "prestige (PR)", "working conditions (WCs)", "health and stress (HS)", "salary and benefits (SB)", "ethical and political processes (EPs)", "authorities and responsibilities (AR)", and "conformity to expectations (CE)". The findings demonstrate that NP, PR, WCs, SB, HS, EPs, AR, and CE significantly influence IS. Particularly, NP and PR substantially impact the preference for the architectural profession and the determination to remain in the sector. In contrast, WCs, HS, SB, and EPs affect IS negatively. This research contributes significantly to the literature on the career intentions of architecture students by presenting a model that captures the factors influencing their career choices. The model is supported by substantial empirical evidence and is based on a comprehensive literature review.