A Study on the Perception and Satisfaction of Middle School Students' Free-Semester Beauty Education

Abstract

There have been many studies on free-semester programs for junior high-school students. When it comes to cosmetology education, however, it has been difficult to find a study performed on free-semester programs. For this, research questions were established. Then, a questionnaire survey was conducted to examine current free-semester programs in cosmetology education, students’ perception of these and their satisfaction with free-semester cosmetology activities. The survey was carried out among junior high-school students in Seoul and Gyeonggi from December 15, 2016 to April 1, 2017. Among a total of 220 questionnaires, 207 copies were used for final analysis. When asked when is the best time to give free-semester cosmetology education to junior high-school students, ‘2nd semester, 7th grade’ was responded. When asked about the reasons, ‘to experience job selection’ was the highest with 66%. When asked what kind of job they were interested in, ‘makeup’ was the highest with 39.6%, followed by ‘nail art’ (26.6%), ‘hairstyling’ (17.9%) and ‘skincare’ (15.9%). In other words, most respondents showed the highest interest in ‘makeup’. In addition, ‘able to learn things that cannot be learned in other classes through a free-semester program’ was most responded. In terms of cosmetology activities in a free-semester program, ‘experience of cosmetology-related job’ had the most responses with 56.3%. The free-semester cosmetology activities were most provided in classrooms. In addition, ‘class through diverse cosmetology training approaches’ was the highest with 50.7%. Most respondents thought that this aspect was the biggest advantage. It appears that this study could suggest a proven ground for cosmetology education to establish a free-semester program for junior high-school students as cosmetology education can be helpful for diverse career search activities and career decision-making.