摘要：The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of an IT certificate program that contributes to the career development of individuals in terms of gaining 21st century skills, given the increasing competitive conditions of globalization process and developments in Information Technologies (IT). This study covers the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Certificate Program in Vocational and Technical High Schools in collaboration with Cisco Networking Academy, one of the important institutions among IT certification programs. This certificate program provides training to students in the department of information technologies and electrical-electronics technologies in vocational high schools in order to meet the labor demands in the field of computer networks technology in Turkey. This certificate program is a comprehensive study starting in 2011-2012 academic year and completed in two years. However, the scope of this study is limited to the comparison of demographic characteristics and 21st century skill levels of students participating and non-participating in the certificate program. The study was conducted with 1453 students and the majority of these students were male. According to the findings of the study, it was concluded that the students who participated in the certificate program had a high level of skills in terms of 21st century skills. In addition, there was no effect of gender among students participating in technology-based certificate programs.
