PERCEPTION OF PUBLIC RELATIONS STUDENTS TOWARDS WORK-LIFE CONFLICT: A STUDY OF ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY PUBLIC RELATIONS AND ADVERTISING STUDENTS

Abstract

It is suggested that very stressful environments and long working hours are among the most significant aspects according to persons who want to start their careers in the field of public relations. It is also thought that this condition reflects the typical perception of majority of public relations students towards working. Students must be prepared for busy schedules and long working hours when they start a full time job in the field of public relations, which is growing rapidly. Taking this into consideration, in their study, Jiang and Shen (2015: 132) researched the perception of public relations students towards work-life conflict. These authors have been contacted with the intention of adapting their research to Turkey because of the limited number of research that presents work-life conflict perception of public relations students. The questionnaire, which is shared as a result of the interviews, and reliability and validity of which is determined, was applied to the students of Istanbul University, Faculty of Communication, Department of Public Relations and Advertising. As a result of the research, it was determined that expectations of students towards work-life conflict is at a reasonable level, the support they expect from their supervisors is at a high level, and their expectations related to family-supportive organizational work environment are at a reasonable level. In addition to this, supervisory support and family supportive organizational work environment were perceived to be instrumental in reducing behavior-based work-life conflict.