REFERENCES

Ayara, N. N (2002) The Paradox of Education and Economic Growth in Nigeria: An

Empirical
Evidence. Selected papers for the 2002 Annual Conference. Nigerian Economic
Society

(NES) Ibadan. Polygraphics Ventures Ltd.

Ayeni, O. (2003) Relationship Between Training and Employment of Technical

College
Graduates in Oyo State between 1998 and 2001. Unpublished Ph.D Thesis.
University of Ibadan, Ibadan
Garba, P.K (2002) Human Capital Formation, Utilization and the Development of
Nigeria Selected Papers for the 2002 Annual Conference of the Nigeria
Economic

Society. (NES). Ibadan. Polygraphics Ventures Ltd.

Hesketh, E. A. and Laidlaw, J. M. (2010). Quantitative research.

Education

Development Unit NHS Education for Scotland. Retrieved September 10,

2012 from www.sportsci.org/jour/0001/wghdesign.html
Odekunle, S.O. (2001) Training and Skill Development as Determinant of Workers
Productivity in the Oyo State Public Service. Unpublished Ph.D Thesis,
University of Ibadan.
Van-Den-Berg, H. (2001) Economic Growth and Development (International Edition)
New York. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
World Bank (1995) Review of Public Expenditure ODI, London.

Hillage & Polland, 1998 in Suarez-Felicen & Mejia, 2013),

Renny et al. (March 2013) International Journal of Computer Science and Information
Security, Vol. 11, No. 3 March 2013.Exploring Tracer Stury Service in career Center
Web Site of Indonesia Higher Education. http://sites.google.com/site/ijcis/ISSN
1947-5500.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Renny et al (2013) stressed that evaluation is necessary so that there is no
gap between the world of higher education to the world of real work in the
community. Tracer study is tracking how big college graduates are able to act in
accordance with the suitability of development of education effort to do a search on
graduates.
The Graduate School of this college produces professional manpower with
earned advanced education degree for Southwestern Mindanao. It has been
operating since 1996 when CHED Chairman, Hon. Angel C. Alcala and ZSCMST
President, Dr. Edgardo M. Santo signed a Memorandum of Agreement to jointly
cooperate in the implementation of the Mindanao Advanced Education Project.
Cognizant to the MOA, on December 17, 1996 the BOT Resolution No. 33 approved
the offering of graduateprograms, Master in Marine Biodiversity and Master in
Marine Science/Fisheries.

In year 2000, a new program was added, Master in

Marine Fisheries Management.

After year 2000, more programs were offered as follows: Master in Fisheries
Management major in Aquaculture Technology, Master of Arts in Teaching Marine
Transportation, Master of Arts in Teaching Marine Engineering, Master of Arts in
Teaching English for Specific Purposes, Master in Public Management,

Master in

Maritime Management, Master of Arts in Education major in Alternative Learning

System and Master of Science in Fisheries major in Fish Processing. However,
beginning 2003, the graduate programs run in a self-liquidating scheme.
Operating as self-liquidating unit, it has continued to rise as a promising
academic department of the college. It

has tried

to achieve excellence to be

equally competitive with other graduate education of other institutions.

The continuous upgrading of the Graduate School is evidenced in the
accreditation results conducted by ISO, CHED and AACUP. Accreditation results have
ensured that quality instruction, updated curriculum and better support services for
students are offered to the students.
The good practices in this academic unit have become popular as manifested
in the tremendous increase of enrolment in the last five years. The number of
graduates has also increased.
To have a good basis of assessing the status of the graduates of the Graduate
School of this college, this study is conducted. It seeks to determine the status of
employment of the masteral graduates of Zamboanga State College of Marine
Sciences and Technology for the last five years, from School Year 2008-2009 to
2012-2013. Findings from this study can be used as input to enhance the effects of
GS academic programs and the administrative system.

Theoretical Framework
This

study is anchored on the human capital theory which rests on the

assumption that formal education is highly instrumental and even necessary to

improve the production capacity of a population. In short, the human capital
theorists argue that an educated population is a productive population.
Human capital theory emphasizes how education increases the productivity
and efficiency of workers by increasing the level of cognitive stock of economically
productive human capability which is a product of innate abilities and investment in
human beings. The provision of formal education is seen as a productive investment
in human capital, which the proponents of the theory have considered as equally or
even more equally worthwhile than that of physical capital.
According to Babalola (2003), the rationality behind investment in human
capital is based on three arguments: first, the new generation must be given the
appropriate parts of the knowledge which has already been accumulated by
previous generations; second, the new generation should be taught how existing
knowledge should be used to develop new products, to introduce new processes
and production methods and social services; and the people must be encouraged
to develop entirely new ideas, products, processes and methods through creative
approaches. In addition, Fagerlind and Saha (1997) advanced that human capital
theory provides a basic justification for large public expenditure on education both
in developing and developed nations. The theory is consistent with the ideologies of
democracy and liberal progression found in most Western societies.
Its appeal was based upon the presumed economic return of investment in
education both at the macro and micro levels. Efforts to promote investment in
human capital were seen to result in rapid economic growth for society. For

individuals, such investment was seen to provide returns in the form of individual
economic success and achievement.
Employability therefore, is one measure for the economic return of
investment in

education. It refers to a persons capability of gaining initial

employment, maintaining employment, and obtaining new employment if required

(Hillage & Polland, 1998 in Suarez-Felicen & Mejia, 2013). In the graduate level,
graduate employability rates are often used in universities as a key performance
indicator in relation to teaching and learning outcomes (Suarez-Felicen & Mejia,
2013).

Conceptual Framework
This study has its parameter on the profile of the masteral graduates from
school year 2008-2009 to 2012 1013 which include gender, age, civil status,
ethnicity, sector connected and program completed. It will also include their
position, salary, job promotion and other job opportunities.
Employees who pursue and attain higher educational qualification tend to
have higher position, higher salary, and better performance and have promotion
than those who do not avail of the continuous professional education. Furthermore,
this attempted to find out whether the profile of the graduate students who
obtained their masters degree from in 2007-2013 affected their position, promotion
and other employment opportunities.
Profile of Graduates
a Gender
b Civil Status
c Ethnicity
d Age
e Sector Connected
f Program Completed

Employment Status
a Position
b Promotion
c Other
Employment
Opportunities

Figure 1. Conceptual Paradigm of the Study

Statement of the Problems:

This study aimed to determine the status of employment of the different
masters degree graduates of Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and
Technology Graduate School.
Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:
1

What is the profile of the graduates of Masters degree from school year
2007-2013 in terms of:
1 Gender
2 Civil Status
3 Ethnicity
4 Age
5 Sector Connected
6 Program Completed

Is there a significant influence of the graduates profile to their employment

status?

Is there a significant contribution of the graduates masteral degree to their

employment status?

Hypotheses:
1

There is no significant influence of the graduates profile to their employment

status?

There is no significant contribution of the graduates masteral degree to their

employment status?

Significance of the Study

This study provides empirical data which serve as inputs in formulating
policies designed to make the curriculum of the Graduate School of the Zamboanga

State College of Marine Sciences and Technology responsive, relevant and attuned
to the fast changing world.
Specifically, this study, its applications and implications would be beneficial
to the following:
ZSCMST Curriculum Makers. The study could provide relevant data to
curriculum planners in revising and designing a curriculum in accordance to the
developmental needs of the graduate students.
College President. The College President could instruct graduate curriculum
makers and Dean of the Graduate School to re-examine and re-design graduate
school curriculum

appropriate in the enhancement of knowledge and skills of the

graduate school students.

Graduate School Dean. The Graduate School Dean could lead the faculty in
re-examining and enhancing their curriculum responsive to the developmental
needs of the graduate students.
Faculty. The faculty could explore for possibilities in improving academic
instruction by integrating concepts designed to make their students efficient and
effective in carrying their tasks in their respective workplaces.
Graduate Students. The graduate students are the direct beneficiaries of this
study since any attempt to enhance the curriculum of the Graduate School could
further strengthen their knowledge, skills and attitude in the performance of their
jobs.
Other Researchers. This study is also be important to other researchers since
they can use the data of this study to better understand the research they intend to
conduct.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

This study involved graduates of the masteral programs

from school year

2007 2013 of the Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and Technology.
The profile of the graduate students include gender, civil status, ethnicity, age,
sector connected and degree obtained. Employment status includes position, job
promotion and other job opportunities of the graduates who obtained their masters
degree from school year 2007 2013.
The results of this study were reflective of the whole population of masters
degree graduates of Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and Technology.

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the related literature and studies which served as
bases in constructing the research theoretical framework, formulating research

problems, guiding the research hypotheses, selecting the variables of the study and
lending support to some of the findings in the study.

Related Literature
The importance of education and human capital has been brought out in
many studies of economic growth and development. Robert (1991) developed a
human capital model which shows that education and the creation of human capital
was responsible for both the differences in labor productivity and the differences in
overall levels of technology that the world has achieved at present. More than
anything else, it has been the spectacular growth in East Asia that has given
education and human capital their current popularity in the field of economic growth
and development. Countries such as Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan have
achieved unprecedented rates of economic growth while making large investments
in education.
The

World Bank (1993) reported that improvement in education is a very

significant explanatory variable for East Asian economic growth. There are several
ways of modeling how the huge expansion of education accelerated economic
growth and development. The first is to view education as an investment in human
capital. A different view of the role of education in the economic success is that
education has positive externalities. The idea that education generates positive
externalities is by no means new. Many of the classical economists argued strongly
for governments active support of education on the grounds of the positive
externalities that society would gain from a more educated

labor force and populace (Van-Den-Berg 2001).

Education is seen as an input into the intentional and entrepreneurial efforts

to create new technology and new products. Proponents of this view of education
point out the close correlation between new product development and levels of
education. The countries that are at the forefront of technology also have the most
educated population (Van-Den-Berg 2001). The review of empirical tests of the
theory by Garba (2002) shows that cross-country regressions have shown positive
correlation

between

educational

attainment

and

economic

growth

and

development. Odekunle (2001) affirms that investment in human capital has

positive effects on the supply of entrepreneurial activity and technological
innovation. Ayeni (2003) asserts that education as an investment has future
benefits of creation of status, job security and other benefits in cash and in kind.

Related Studies
There are tracer studies conducted in various fields like management,
commerce, engineering, education, hotel and restaurant and other fields in tertiary
education, much more in the graduate school. Renny et al (2013) presented that
tracer study results can be used by universities to determine the success of the
educational process that has been done towards their students. The tracer studies
which are presented in this part of the chapter provided insights to researchers who
are presently conducting a similar study.
Samer Al-Samarrai and Barry Reilly (2011)

completed a tracer survey of

secondary school completers, analyses the impact of education and training on

individual welfare through the estimation of earnings equations. The findings
suggest that the rates of return to educational qualifications are not negligible and,
at the margin, provide an investment incentive. However, little evidence of human

capital effects in the earnings determination process in the self-employment sector.

Information contained in the tracer survey allowed the introduction of controls for
fathers educational background and a set of school fixed effects designed to proxy
for school quality and potential labor market network effects. The analysis shows
that the inclusion of these controls tends to reduce the estimated rates of return to
educational qualifications. This emphasizes the potential confounding role of school
quality/network effects and parental background for rate of return analysis. We
would argue that a failure to control for such background variables potentially leads
to an over-statement in the estimated returns to education. A comparison of our
results with evidence from other countries in the region shows that despite an
extremely small secondary and university education system the private rates of
return to education in the Tanzanian wage employment sector are relatively low.
Zembere and

Chinyama (2003) conducted a tracer study among the

graduates of the University of Malawi who graduated between 1997 and 2002. The
main objective of the tracer study was to examine the changes in the career pattern
of the graduates in order to provide a basis of evaluation of the current programmes
of the University of Malawi. A similar study for the University of Malawi was carried
out in 1988 for graduates of 1968 to 1987. The University awarded the first
certificates to its deserving graduates in 1968 and by 1987 it had awarded 7,514
degrees, diplomas and certificates. Between 1987 and 1995, 3,934 students
graduated from the University. During this period there was a general increase of
about 2% in its enrollment. On the other hand, during the same period, study
provisions in the University generally declined. The courses offered generally
changed in all its constituent colleges towards more job-oriented. It was observed

that the opportunities of securing a job by graduates declined over the years and
the period of seeking employment had increased. Though most of the study
programmes in the University were practice-oriented, most graduates were
employed initially in jobs not linked to their training due to job scarcity. Many
graduates only moved to jobs related to their training later, resulting in high
number of graduates who had changed employment.
Samson, Manejero, Nazario, and Flores (2011) conducted a tracer study to
determine the employment status of the ZSCMST graduates of the 10 major
curricular programs from SY 2005 - 2010. The study was able to trace 799 (67.09%)
graduates out of the total 1,191 graduates. The greater number of graduates traced
in this study were the graduates of the Bachelor of Science in Marine Technology
(18.5%), followed by the Bachelor of Science in Food Technology (11.64%) and
Diploma in Hotel and Restaurant Management (10.64%). The study revealed that
the BS Food Technology program registered the highest employment rate (75.27%),
the Diploma in Marine Electronics and Communications Technology (68.97%), BSFFish Processing (67.57%), BS Marine Engineering (63.79%), BSSE major in Physical
Science (59.57%), and BS Marine Technology (56.08%).
Francisco (2006) conducted a tracer study among

the graduates of the

Universidad de Zamboanga from school years 2000 to 2005. She used the openended questions in gathering data from the graduates. Interviews, email and face
book and mailed letter were used to get data from the respondents. The findings
indicated that majority of the graduates of these school years were females,
married, Chavacano and Bisaya. About seventy-eight (78) out of three hundred
twenty-one (321) or 24.30 percent of these graduates are employed. Forty-two (42)
out of seventy-eight (78) or 53.85 percent are employed in private organizations,

three (3) or 3.85 percent were working in the government and the remaining 33 or
42.31 percent are self-employed. They owned a sari-sari stor and jeepney drivers.
Fifty-nine (59) or 75.64 percent had a monthly income of Ph 10,000.00 and below
and the others had higher that PH 10,000.00 monthly income.
Results

also

showed

that

employment

is

greatly

influenced

by

the

performance and capabilities of the graduates. Problems encountered by the

graduates during the search for jobs were: non-availability of job opportunities
commensurate to ones academic preparation, lack of prestige and linkages of the
College where they graduated, and job-education mismatch. Academic programs
that exhibited greater flexibility in fitting into various jobs available in the labor
market were the ones successful in having their graduate land a job.