Artificial intelligence perceptions and career anxiety among health sciences students

AI perceptions and career anxiety among health sciences students — a cross-sectional study of 821 health sciences students across Turkish universities showing a moderate, positive, significant correlation (r = 0.233, p < 0.001) between AI anxiety and job search anxiety; AI anxiety remained a significant predictor of job search anxiety even after controlling socio-demographic variables (β = 0.234, p < 0.001).

Dağ, Nal, Topuz, Kılınç, Demir, & Bektaş (2026) extend the career-anxiety evidence base to health professions, showing that AI anxiety is not merely an attitude toward technology but a psychological factor shaping students' perceptions of their professional futures and fear of unemployment. This is the fourth empirical career-anxiety study linked to the Career Development And Readiness concept.

Method

• Sample: 821 health sciences students (Physical Therapy, Pharmacy Services, Medical Secretarial/Documentation, Nursing, Speech & Language Therapy, Midwifery, Health Management) from Turkish universities; 82.5% female, 59.6% undergraduates.
• Design: Cross-sectional online survey (distributed by class representatives via WhatsApp).
• Measures/analysis: Artificial Intelligence Anxiety Scale and Job Search Anxiety Scale; Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression (SPSS v26).

Key Findings

• AI anxiety predicts job search anxiety. Moderate positive correlation (r = 0.233, p < 0.001); AI anxiety remained a significant predictor (β = 0.234, p < 0.001) even controlling for socio-demographics.
• Demographic effects: income status (p = 0.011, β = −0.088) and educational attainment (p = 0.001, β = 0.208) significantly affected job search anxiety.
• Core conclusion: AI anxiety is not merely a technology attitude but an important psychological factor shaping students' perceptions of their professional futures and fears of unemployment.

Implications

• For Career Development And Readiness: AI anxiety is a real psychological barrier to employment confidence across disciplines, including health sciences.
• For institutions: enhancing educational programs and AI Literacy/career counseling services at the university level could significantly reduce AI-related career anxiety.
• For AI Anxiety And Stress: corroborates the career-anxiety dimension with discipline-specific (health-sciences) evidence.

Connected Concepts

• AI Anxiety And Stress
• Career Development And Readiness
• AI Literacy
• Higher Ed
• Student Experience
• Well Being
• Self Efficacy
• Professional Training

Connected Articles

• Duan AI Anxiety Career Decisions College 2026 — AI anxiety impairs career decisions via career adaptability
• Wang Career Adapt Abilities AI Anxiety English 2026 — career adapt-abilities reduce AI anxiety
• Ustun AI Anxiety Job Finding Anxiety 2026 — AI anxiety and job-finding anxiety
• Kim AI Anxiety Comprehensive Analysis — comprehensive analysis of AI anxiety

Citation

Dağ, E., Nal, M., Topuz, İ., Kılınç, H., Demir, Y., & Bektaş, G. (2026). Artificial intelligence perceptions and career anxiety among health sciences students. Scientific Reports, 16, 42030.