CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

INTRODUCTION

 Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each

of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit

for everyone and greater strength for our nation (-John F. Kenned).

Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of

their students (-Solomon Ortiz).

We believe education is the most important tool we can receive, that can bring us

most success in society today. Education lessens the challenges we will face in life. The

more knowledge we gain the more opportunities will open up to allow individuals to achieve

better possibilities in career and personal growth.

The ideal career combines the dream of what a person wants to be with the reality

of finding and working at a job that leads to that aim. Picking a career is the most important

decision the average student makes. It should involve a self-critical analysis: Where does my

talent lie, How can I hone it, and what is the reality of earning a living by using it?

Some lucky persons, definitely in the minority know exactly what they want to be-

Doctor, Lawyer, Nurse, Investment Banker, Engineer and Writer. Most people of college

age to tend to be confused, even about what major to choose, according to…

If, after graduating, you find that the realities of the Job market require that you take

a Job you don‘t like, try to keep the vision of what you really want and love in front of you,

and over the years try to keep prepared and alert so that you can seize the opportunity if it
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comes. Along the way you can find plenty of advice because career planning is a relatively

new field, growing more professional all the time.

To the Filipino, knowledge is acquired through education. And most of us generally

agree that education can be obtained inside and outside school. We believe that the primary

sources of knowledge are the schools. Thus, the higher a person achieve on the formal

education ladder, the more he/she attains knowledge and expectedly acquires more

employment opportunities.

The importance of education is basically for two reasons. The first is that the training

of a human mind is not complete without education. Education makes a man right thinker. It

tells man how to think and how to make decision.

The second reason for the importance of education is that only through the

attainment of education; man is enabled to receive information from the external world; to

acquaint him with past history and receive all necessary information regarding the

present. Without education, man is as though in a closed room and with education he finds

himself in a room with all its windows open towards outside world (Khan, 1989).

Most of the employer’s teacher today requires by the Department of Education or to

his employees to be well educated. They require expertise. So, education becomes an

eligibility criterion for employment into any sector of the industry. We are rewarded for

exercising the expertise required for the field we venture. We are weighed in the market on

the basis of our educational skills and how well we can apply them. That‘s why education is

very important because it equips us with all that is needed to make our dreams come true
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and open doors of brilliant career opportunities that fetches us for better prospects in career

and growth. (M. Oak, 2000)

Prepare yourself for a career that is based on the realities of your talent and the job

market, and find a job to support and educate you. But also prepare for a career to keep you

mentally stimulated. If a job does not offer both, you might consider studying for career on

the side. In that way we can combine reality with the dream. Dreams can be practical.

An important message today is that companies that traditionally had paternal

relationships with their employees now hire and fire them with much more ease and much

less conscience.

Today‘s career beginners must understand that they probably will not spend more

than a few years in their first job or with their first company. On average they probably will

change job more than five times during a lifetime of work. Today‘s young careerist probably

does not want to think in terms of retirement when starting a job, but financial planning has

become more important than ever in today‘s insecure job market for prospective middle

managers.

This study focused on the evaluative process of educational institutions specifically

universities and colleges. The most direct way of evaluating a performance of an educational

institution is to assess the current standing and performance of their graduates in their

undertakings. In order to effectively evaluate the current status and employment profile of

their graduates, these educational institutions conduct tracer studies.

A tracer study is a comprehensive, objective, and evaluative study that traces the

current employment status of their graduates and assesses their qualitative competencies
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with the job at hand. According to Zembere & Chinyama (1996), a tracer study’s goal is to

successfully comply with the following outcomes: it should shed light on the employment

status of the graduate over a five year period after graduation, analyze the relationship

between the higher education and work, identify and take into account all possible factors

that are essential for professional success of graduates, and evaluate the experience of the

graduates towards the provision and efficiency of the service of the central aspects of the

university towards the graduate’s holistic development.

The outcomes of a university’s tracer study will reflect the effectiveness and

relevance of the policies, curriculums, and strategies imposed by evaluating institutions.

Through identifying the current status of their graduates, they will not only be able to

evaluate the university’s performance but also identify possible deficits in a given

educational program, the results of which will serve as a basis for future planning of

activities at both the institutional and national levels, such that academic programs might

be brought more closely in line with the needs of the economy (Tertiary Education

Commission, 2008).

The Saint Peter’s College is seen as one of the dedicated institutions that puts

excellence and quality into extreme consideration and prioritization. Mercado & Rivas

(2008) wrote that graduate tracer studies hope to contribute in general to the advancement

and upgrading of SPC’s academic vision of providing quality education consistent with

social demands, specifically to the burgeoning demands of the labor market. The main

objective of this study, therefore, is to assess the current performance of its Bachelor of

Science in Secondary Education graduates in terms of their current employment status. In

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line with that assessment, there are a lot of factors that need to be weighed out; hence, this

study.

Background of the study

Pertinent to the mission of Polytechnic University of the Philippines to “commit

academic resources and manpower in the achievement of the goals of the country’s

leadership”, it is very important the university stay relevant in meeting the work force needs

of the country. Therefore, graduate tracer studies are essential in maintaining such relevance.

The University’s efforts in staying relevant should conform to the demands of the

labor market needs. In an article written by the Philippine Star (2016), researchers of the

Philippine Social Science Council state that, “DECS officials and curriculum development

planners and specialists have not seriously taken into account findings, showing weak

linkages between education and employment.” Studies have revealed no strong

correspondence between educational attainments, employment levels and wage rates. There

remains a continuing mismatch between the country’s graduates and labor market needs.

According to Connolly (2013), one of the major indicators of an economy’s health

status is the unemployment rate. In a survey performed by the Institute for Labor Studies

(2015), the Philippine youth composes half of the unemployment population numbers

(50.4%) or 1.35 million people with ages ranging from 15 to 24 years old. In addition to

that, an alarming rate of 35.8% of the total unemployed population, about 900,000, are those

who have reached or graduated from college. In response to the situation, former National

Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Deputy Director-General Emmanuel

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Esguerra said, “There is a need to improve the employability of worker applicants,

particularly those with secondary and tertiary education.”

Theoretical Framework

In terms of explaining the rationale of choices and decisions made by the graduates,

the key player here would have to be motivation. There are two distinguishable types of

motivations. There are intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Intrinsic motivation is the

individual’s desire to perform a task for his own sake (Benabou & Tirole, 2003). Extrinsic

motivation, as Benabou & Tirole (2003) also wrote, is having the intention of performing a

task only when a receivable reward is presented. Intrinsic and extrinsic types of motivation

have been widely studied, and the distinction between them has shed important light on both

developmental and educational practices (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Ryan and Deci (1985) also

wrote that human beings can be proactive and engaged or, alternatively, passive and

alienated, largely as a function of the social conditions in which they develop and function.

Another theory to further support the importance of motivation in this study is the

expectancy-value theory proposes that motivation and effort are the combined result of

people’s expectations of success and the value they attach to that success (Vialle, Lysaght,

& Verenikina, 2005). Based from the ideas of Atkinson (1957), the expectancy-value theory

of achievement motivation exerts its effort to explain the people’s choice of achievement

tasks, persistence on those tasks, vigor in carrying them out, and performance on them. He

also argued that an individual’s choice, persistence, and performance can be explained by

their beliefs about how well they will do on the activity and the extent to which they value

the activity.
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To further elaborate, in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Maslow (1943) believed that

individuals possess a set of motivation systems unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires.

He further detailed that people are motivated to achieve certain needs, and that some needs

take precedence over others. The earliest and most widespread version of Maslow's (1943,

1954) hierarchy of needs includes five motivational needs, often depicted as hierarchical

levels within a pyramid. This five stage model can be divided into basic needs (e.g.

physiological, safety) and growth needs (e.g. love, and esteem) which relate to fulfilling

human potential (self-actualization). The basic needs are said to motivate people when they

are unmet. Also, the need to fulfill such needs will become stronger the longer the duration

they are denied. Therefore, one must satisfy lower level deficit needs before progressing on

to meet higher level growth needs. When a deficit need has been satisfied it will go away.

However growth needs continue to be felt and may even become stronger once they have

been engaged. Once these growths needs have been reasonably satisfied, one may be able to

reach the highest level called self-actualization. Every person is capable and has the desire to

move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization. Unfortunately, progress is often

disrupted by failure to meet lower level needs. This is very important concept to understand

because this makes us understand the behavior of human motivation and how choices are

made through personal needs and satisfaction. A major choice that people make what career,

vocation, or profession should they take is definitely under the influence of the factors

mentioned in Maslow’s theory.

Lastly, in order to connect the essential concepts of motivation to career decisions is

Holland’s theory of career choice. Holland (1997) wrote that in the society, most people are
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one of the six personality types namely: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social,

Enterprising, and Conventional.

Conceptual Framework

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

General Profile Distribution of The Current
Sex
Online Employment
Civil Status Status of BSED
Educational Attainment Questionnaire Students of PUP
Licensure Examination for (Google Forms) Taguig Branch
Teachers (LET) passed
Further studies of a Master's Facebook Batch
degree after college Messaging 2011 - 2015
Post-College Training Program(s)
Statistical
Reasons in taking the course Treatment of Data Enhanced BSED
and pursuing advanced studies Curriculum
Interpretation and
Field Study in
Employment Profile Analysis First Year 2nd
Current Employment Status Semester
Reason(s) for unemployment
Whether their current job is their
first job after college Intervention
Means of finding their first job Program for
after college Career
Length of pursuit before landing
on their first job
Development
Initial grossed monthly earning in Career
their first job after college Development
Length of stay in their first job Seminar
after college
Reasons for staying on their first Financial
job after college Literacy
Reasons for changing their first Self-Branding
job after college
Present occupation's classification
Current occupation's nature of
business
Current occupation's job level
Relevance of curriculum to their
first job after college

Competencies learned in college

found useful in first job after
college

Implication of findings of the

study in curriculum
development
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Figure 1. Conceptual Framework: Tracer. Alumni of students in Saint Peter’s College

Major in Filipino BATCH 2013-2016. The INPUT consists of the general profile,

educational background profile, post-college programs and the employment data of the

respondents. The PROCESS consists of the data gathering tool to distribute the online

Google Forms questionnaire by Facebook Messaging. After the distribution is the statistical

treatment of data and the interpretation and analysis of the collected data. Finally for the

OUTPUT is the current employment status of the Bachelor of Secondary Education

Graduates of the Saint Peter’s College Batch 2013 to 2016,

Statement of the Problem

In this study, the researchers determined the current employment status of the Bachelor of

Secondary Education Major in Filipino graduates of the Saint Peter’sCollege of Batch 2013-

2016. Specifically, it answered the following questions:

1. What is the general profile of the respondents in terms of the following:

a. Sex

b. Civil Status

c. Educational attainment

d. Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) passed

e. Further studies of a Master’s degree after college

f. Post-College professional training program(s)

2. What are the reasons of the respondents in taking the course and in pursuing

advanced studies?
3. What is the employment profile of the respondents in terms of the following:

a. Current employment status

b. Reason(s) for unemployment (if unemployed)

c. Whether their current job is their first job after college

d. Means of finding their first job after college

e. Length of pursuit before landing on their first job

f. Initial grossed monthly earning in their first job after college

g. Length of stay in their first job after college (if current employment is not their

first job after college)

h. Reasons for staying on their first job after college (if current employment is their

first job after college)

i. Reasons for changing their first job after college (if current employment is not

their first job after college)

j. Present occupation’s classification

k. Current occupation’s nature of business

l. Current occupation’s job level

m. Relevance of curriculum to their first job after college

4. What competencies learned in college did the respondents find useful in their first job?

5. What is the implication of the findings of the study in enhancing the curriculum of the

Bachelor of Secondary Education?

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Scope and Limitations of the Study

The scope of this study consists of determining the general profile, educational background

profile, and employment profile of the BSED-Filipino Graduates of SPC Iligan City Batch 213-

2016. The researchers limited the study in regards to the participant’s compliance to the

researchers. Specifically, the response rate of this study is with respondents

out of total of population.

Significance of the Study

The researchers provided information of the employment status of the Bachelor in

Secondary Education Graduates of SPC- Iligan City Batch 2011-2015. The study is believed to

be significant to the following persons, group of persons and sectors:

To the graduating batch, specifically those who are deciding their next career moves after

receiving their bachelor degree, this study will help them in analyzing the previous trends of their

alumni regarding their career decisions which will serve as a guide to them when deciding for

themselves.

To the parents, not only those with children enrolled in the University but also those who are

thinking about enrolling their child in SPC Iligan City, this study will serve not only as a reliable

report of the employability status of the graduates of SPC Iligan City but also as a source of

information in determining the influencing factors in career decisions. Information received from

the study will help them come up with parental advices for their child.

To the faculty, specifically the education professors who are one of the key influencing persons

to the students, this study will help them trace whether or not the university graduates indeed
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pursued a career in Education or strayed off in different career paths. This will help them in

redesigning their teaching approaches with the objective in mind that the students will be more

inclined to the course that they have taken.

To the Saint Peter College, specifically to those who have the authority to implement changes

in the school policies and curriculum, this study will be a significant source of information in

determining the employability of their graduates. Also, this study may be a reliable source of

consultative information in regards to formulating policies, creating projects, and making

changes in the curriculum.

And to the future researchers, this study will help them serve as a reference for future studies.

This may be used as basis for conducting an annual tracer studies not only for Education

graduates but also for other courses with the interest.

Definition of Terms

For better understanding of the study, the researchers will give several terms that will be defined

operationally.

Database. It refers to the data of the graduates categorized into the following: Family Name,

Given Name, Middle Name, Gender, Permanent Address, Present Employment Status, Contact

Numbers, Name of Company, and other valuable information.

General Profile. In this study, it refers to the graduate’s personal profile in terms of sex, civil

status, highest educational attainment, LET passed, post-college training program(s) taken, and

information on pursuit of further studies (such as a master’s degree).

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Employed. One who presently works at a job including the part time workers. The respondents

who found a job related to their course or have a job.

Employment Profile. It considers personal qualities as important as academic background,

professional skills and previous employment experiences. In this study, it refers to the

information of the graduates to know whether they are presently employed or for the researchers

to know their current employment status.

Employment Status. It refers to the work upon which a person is engaged in, or occupation of

trade chosen by the graduates. In the study, it refers to whether the respondents are employed,

underemployed or unemployed.

Job. This is a work of a definite extent of a character, especially one done in the course of one’s

profession or occupation. In the study, a job refers to the work that the BSED Batch 2013-2016

graduates will have after having graduated in the university.

Motivation. This refers to the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular

way. This can also be defined as the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.

Skills gained. It refers to the learning, ability or proficiencies of a graduate achieved in college

that can be a tool for them to be employed in their respective target working place.

Tracer Study. It refers to the study that traces graduates of higher education institutes. Graduate

Surveys, Alumni Researches, Graduate career tracking or follow-up Study are other terms for it.