Abstract
Background: The selection of an occupation is typically based on individuals' personalities and the characteristics of occupations, which significantly affect occupational consciousness. The present study aimed to enhance the occupational achievement level of and provide fundamental data for student counseling in order to develop competitive professional workers by understanding the occupational consciousness of freshmen and motivating them as dental hygienists with career development plans, as freshmen majoring in dental hygiene eventually play a significant role in the field of dentistry as dental hygienists. Methods: The surveys were distributed to 160 freshmen in the dental hygiene department and were subsequently collected. The data from 142 surveys were used for analysis, as 18 surveys were excluded due to insincere responses. The survey contents included questions related to major selection and satisfaction, including motives for selecting a dental hygiene major, prior knowledge on a dental hygiene major and a career as a dental hygienist, satisfaction level of the major, and reasons for dissatisfaction in cases if applicable, as well as questions related to occupational consciousness, including career prospects for dental hygienists, opinions on the occupation, and conditions of job selection. Results: High employment rate with good salary level ranked highest (43.7%) among motives to apply the dental hygiene major, followed by the desire to be a professional worker (21.1%) and recommendation by acquaintances. Of those who responded, 50.7% indicated a normal level of satisfaction with the major, and 69.9% responded that they had prior knowledge regarding the dental hygiene major and/or field of dental hygiene. These results may be due to youth unemployment and the occurrence of job preparation immediately after students enter university, which is a result of the difficulty in job seeking. In terms of career prospects, 48.6% of students responded with "growing a little bit," followed by "growing a lot" (28.9%), "no difference from now" (21.1%), and "other" (1.4%). Regarding opinions on the occupation, 65.5% responded that occupation was an tool with which to make and income or a living, 23.2% responded that occupation was for dreams and self-realization, and 11.3% responded that occupation was for success in life and maintaining social status. Regarding the conditions of job selection, the responses included that the workplace had good working conditions (39.4%), good interpersonal relationships (21.8%), and a higher salary (18.3%). This may reflect the change in work ethics among university students, according to the trend of the times. Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, we found that educational guidance to enhance the level of satisfaction with the major, and career guidance to understand and apply the clear vision and long-term job security are necessary.
