CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

One of the important factors in seeking for a job is communication.

This has been the basis of every company in considering an applicant to

be hired. The best way for us to be an effective communicator is through

learning the different areas that can consider our communication skills to

be effective, considering some students are gifted in terms of

communicating and some are in the process of learning. In several years,

students and those who seek jobs are struggling to get qualified due to

their communication skills, as it does not meet the expectations of a

certain company that they are applying to.

Background of the Study

According to Kelly (2021), communication is vital when it comes not

only to finding a job but keeping one as well. In connection to the topic,

Laura (2022) stated that having an economic degree will also boost your

employability in so many areas, regardless of the industry you work in. As

economist will be valued in all areas of public and private spending.

In a study conducted by Somnenschein and Ferguson (2020) on

Australian and Chinese Students, it was stated that one of the of the most

important attributes required by graduates are interpersonal skills and

communication skills. The findings of the study indicates that

communication was mentioned most frequently for specific job activities.

Furthermore, it was mentioned that intercultural communication is

important due to the various cultures among the staff and guess in the

hospitality industry.

An article published by Kelly (2021) says that it is essential to make

sure your resume and cover letter highlights your communication skills

when you’re looking for a job. Despite the increasing importance placed

on communication skills, many individuals still continue to struggle in

communicating their thoughts and ideas effectively whether it in verbal or

in written format.

Having an economic degree will boost the employability in many

areas, regardless of the industry you work in (Laura, 2022). Economics

experts are the heart of the business world and financial consulting.

Those who study economics are highly valued in all areas of public and

private spending. However, there is a worldwide concern that higher

education is not producing graduates with the generic and specific

competences and skills that is needed to become successful in their

career (Crnjar, Karanovic, and Ribaric, 2018).

Economics students and graduates with complete sets of skills, with

enough proof about their capability of being a competitive individual

packed with good and effective communication skills will surely push them

at a front line of a competitive selection.

 This study attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of communication

on the employment of economics students at Western Mindanao State

University Academic Year 2022-2023.

Theoretical Framework

A research study conducted by Wenping and Miao (2015) in China

states that due to China’s one child policy, students are less likely to

develop their communication that leads to difficulties in collaboration and

communicating to other people. It was found that large size class

teaching was also part of the reasons that leads the student to rarely

have an opportunity to hone their skills in communication that results to

be shortlisted in job interview and low level of collaboration and

communication to other people.

In Darwin’s Theory of Survival of the fittest, it best describes the

situation in which only those graduates who have a complete package of

skills specially graduates with an edge in communication will survive in a

long-time process selection.

According to the Human Capital theory formulated by Greg Becker,

an American economist, education increases the productivity of workers

by increasing their communication skills, education, technical skills,

problem-solving skills, resilience, and experience (Kenton, 2022).

In addition to Will Kenton’s statement which was reviewed by

Michael Sonnenshein and fact checked by Timothy Li, investing on the

economic value of an individual’s skills and experience and making it into

a successful one would lead to increase in their productivity and thus

profitability.

The American Society for Training and Development claims that

communications is one of the 5 types and 16 skills divided from

employability: basic competencies (reading, coordination and calculation),

communication skills (speaking and listening comprehension), adaptive

ability (to solve problem and innovate thinking), organizational effect

(interpersonal skills, teamwork, and coordination ability), and influential

ability (understanding in-house style and share leadership) (Brown &

Drew, 2005).

Conceptual Framework

The major concept of this study is solely focused in evaluating the

effectiveness of communication on the employment of Economics

Students at Western Mindanao State University for the Academic Year

2022-2023.

DEPENDENT
INDEPENDENT
VARIABLE
VARIABLE

Employability of the
Communication Skills
Economics Students

Figure 1: It shows the relationship between the independent

variable, which is communication skills, and the dependent variable,

which is the employability of the economics students.

Statement of the Problem

This study attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of communication

on the employability of Economics Major students at Western Mindanao

State University for the Academic Year 2022-2023. More specifically, the

study will answer the following question:

1. What is the employability status of an economics student at Western

Mindanao State University based on communication skills? 

2. How important is communication to future economics students when

applying for jobs? 

3. Does having a good communication skill guarantees economics

students a job in the future?

4. Is there a significant relationship between communication skills and

the employability status of economics students?

Objectives of the Study

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of communication on

the employability of Economics Major students at Western Mindanao State

University for the Academic Year 2022-2023. More specifically, the study

aims to:

1. Evaluate the economics student’s communication skills.

2. Observe the relationship between the economics student’s

employability based on communication skills.

 3. Draw significant implication based on the findings.

Significance of the Study

This study will be undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of

communication through employment. This research aims to provide

extensive knowledge. Hence, the results of the study could be highly

significant and beneficial to the following:

Students of WMSU

This study will provide extensive knowledge on the results of the

evaluation in the effectiveness of communication to the students at

Western Mindanao State University. This will also serve as the basis in

improving their communication skills.

WMSU Administrators

The results of the study will serve as a guide for the school

administrators on how they will craft the best students by implementing

programs to enhance their students’ communication skills.

Facilitators

The findings of this study will assist facilitators in preparation for

their activities, enabling them to perfectly execute their best teaching

methods and provide a quality education to their students.

Parents and Guardians

The results of the study will provide information to the parents and

guardians to support their children financially, morally, and emotionally.

Future Researchers

This study will serve as a reference material to fill in the gaps in the

literature for future studies on relevant topics.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The focus of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of

communication on the employment of Economics students. This study is

limited to two hundred (200) students taking up the Bachelor of Science

in Economics at Western Mindanao State University for the Academic Year

2022-2023.

The researchers will conduct the data gathering through

questionnaires with the use of Google Forms. Each of the respondents will

have the same questionnaires to answer. The researchers will also be

collecting some documents that will serve as evidence to justify and

corroborate the result made from the questionnaires and that will help

them formulate a precise and well-established conclusion.

Definition of Terms

The following terms are defined operationally and conceptually for

the purpose of clarification and understanding of the terms related to this

study.

Bachelor of Science in Economics – is a four-year degree program at

Western Mindanao State University. This degree program will help

students gain a better understanding of economic systems and their

structures.

Communication - the act of transferring information from one place to

another through verbal, non-verbal, and visual means.

Communication Skills - the ability to convey information accurately,

clearly, and as intended. It is an attribute used to evaluate the student's

employability.

Employability – consists of attributes that an individual possesses that

grant them the opportunity to obtain and keep employment.

Evaluation – the assessment of the effectiveness of communication

skills, which contribute to the employability of the economics student

when applying for a job.

 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the review of related literature that the

researchers considered in strengthening the claim and importance of the

present study.

Communication is considered a crucial skill set by employers who

requires University to develop the student communication skills for them

to be globally competitive and to meet the requirements in the workplace

(Sonnenschein, 2020).

To support the statement of Sonnenschein, Stephanie L. (2022)

states that having good communication enables the graduates to be

competitive in terms of introducing innovative concepts to outperform the

competition, lead productive meetings to diffuse concerns which could

hinder the organization’s ability to reach target, and as well as explains

the rationale behind the decisions that have been made to increase the

probability that such targets being met.

According to Kelly (2021), communication is very vital when it

comes to not only finding job but also in keeping one as well. It builds

trust among coworkers, foster creativity, and helps people work better

together. Good communication is an asset to any team and can provide

strong voice that mostly needed for their ideas to be heard and realized.

Kelly also added that to be successful, strong communication skills

is essential. Good communicators can articulate their thoughts and help

others to understand them effectively. Also, in job hunting it is pre-

requisite to give highlights to your communication skills in your resume

and cover letter to make sure that it would give you an edge against your

competitors in a job interview.

In an article published by the University of Southern California,

nearly every job posting contains good communication skills or effective

communication skills. Having a good communication skill reduces

ambiguity and misunderstanding which will improve the clarity of

exchanging ideas, concepts, and knowledge. And having an effective

communication skill can help the business to reach its goals with greater

efficiency, produce satisfied workers, and improve brand identity.

In addition, Manuscript (2012) stated that in a survey done by the

recruiters from companies with more than 50,000 employees in 2012,

communication was cited as the single more important decisive factor in

choosing managers. However, despite the increasing importance of

communication skills, individuals continue to struggle in sharing their

thoughts and ideas, and unable to communicate very well in which would

affect their competitiveness in the workplace and would stand in the way

of career progression.

According to Team Career360 (2022) in their article published

entitled “Importance of Communication Skills-A Complete Guide”, being

able to share our thoughts clearly does lend a fair measure of confidence

and assuredness that all the things that we do will be a success.

Furthermore, having a fluent interaction to others would be very vital for

you on your workplace, as possessing good communication skills opens

for new avenues for one’s career as well.

In connection to the above statement of Team Caeer360, the

Corporate Finance Institute Team also published an article that was

updated on November 24, 2022, which states that being able to

communicate effectively is one of the important life skills to learn. In their

article, it was proclaimed that communication top the survey about the

most sought-after soft skills among employers conducted in United States

by the LinkedIn survey in 2016.

Ashley Andrews (2022) published a blog which was slightly related

to the one that the University of Southern California published that states

that having a good communication skill is often mentioned as one of the

most important requirements, regardless of the exact position or the

industry. This becomes absolutely vital in today’s business world. Due to

the rapid changes in the world, great verbal and non-verbal

communication is highly needed.

In a study conducted by Amadu and Anyarayor (2022), job

satisfaction emanates from good communication increases output,

diminishes non-attendances, improves level of novelty, drastically reduces

dormant attitudes with little incursions, and decrease charges.

This shows how important is having a good communication skill in

applying for a job as lots of companies always included this on the skills

needed for the employee that they were looking for, and the fact that it is

highly needed in a long run of the employee’s career. Job satisfaction and
job promotion will also be based on having a good and effective

communication skills. Newman and Goode (2019) also added that

communication plays a central role in promoting the health and well-being

of workers.
 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research design, subject of the study,

research instrument, data gathering procedure, and data analysis

procedure.

Research Design

This study is qualitative research. More particularly, the type of

qualitative research employed is a descriptive case study.

A case study entails a close, in-depth, and thorough examination of

a study subject and its relevant contextual position of a single individual,

group, or event to explore the causes of underlying principles. Hence, the

researchers devised this type of study to evaluate the effectiveness of

communication on the employability of economics students at Western

Mindanao State University. Thus, the findings of this research will give the

researchers the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the

importance of communication when applying for jobs. 

Subject of the Study

The respondents of this study are the two hundred (200) students

in their first to fourth years, taking up the Bachelor of Science in

Economics, a four-year degree program in Western Mindanao State

University for the Academic Year 2022-2023.

Research Instrument

The major tool for gathering the data needed for this research is the

researcher-made questionnaires, which includes open-ended

questionnaires and closed-ended questionnaires such as checklists.

Part I of the questionnaire is an open-ended questionnaire to

evaluate the communication skills of the respondents themselves.

Part II of the questionnaire is a closed-ended questionnaire – a

checklist, to evaluate the effectiveness of communication on the

employability of the economics student. Each statement was given one

set of two boxes. The two boxes are:

Yes

No

Data Gathering Procedure

The researcher will seek permission from the head of the Economics

Department and the president of Economics Society (ECOSOC) to

administer the questionnaires through google form to the target

respondents. After the researchers receive the permit, the questionnaires

will be distributed to the target population during their vacant periods

with the assistance of representatives per year level.

The researchers will introduce first the purpose of the study to the

respondents for them to withdraw or stop if they want to. The researchers
will not force the respondents to participate in this research study. The

respondents will be informed that they do not have to provide their

personal information, such as their names, ages, and other information

will remain confidential and that they should not be concerned. As soon as

the respondents complete the questionnaires, it will be retrieved as soon

as possible since the researchers used Google Form. 

The data gathering served as a basis for further enhancing the

research tool.

Data Analysis Procedure

Analysis and interpretation of data will be done by utilizing

descriptive case study – a qualitative research. The survey questionnaire

will be collected and categorized based on the responses of the

respondents for the researchers to be able to formulate the conclusions

and provide a recommendation for the study. The survey questionnaires

will be examined thoroughly to avoid errors and misinterpretation.

Thus, the data that the researchers gathered will be analyzed to

make sure that all data are accurate and to ensure that the data are

credible.