Employment, Employability, and Competencies of the Bachelor of Secondary Education Graduates

Abstract

Tracing graduates has become an imperative for higher education institutions much more during the pandemic. This tracer determined the employment and employability status of the 2019 BSE graduates and identified the competencies they adequately acquired and deemed vital for work. It used descriptive design, and data were collected from the 103 graduates through a Google form with open and closed-ended questions administered between November and December 2020. Results revealed that most of the graduates had been employed in teaching and teaching-related jobs but mostly in contractual arrangements within the first and second six months after graduation. Many had their first jobs with meager salaries from the private sector. Communication, pedagogy, information communication technology, time management, and flexibility were the top competencies they adequately acquired and were beneficial in work. The study concluded that these graduates had acquired 21st-century skills in their respective degree programs. These results have corresponding implications for future research in confirming the most employable skills in secondary teaching. As recommended, classroom instruction might emphasize the development of these skills. Eventually, these become the competitive advantage and employability capitals of future graduates. Administering the licensure examination and the release of its results can be done within the first three months after graduation to lessen the cost of waiting.

Scoping Review on Employability Skills of Teacher Education Graduates in the Philippines: A Framework for Curriculum Enhancement

“…To add, these competencies were adequately acquired by most of the 2019 graduates at Bukidnon State University. However, a few reported they acquired these skills inadequately (Caingcoy et al, 2021). This result is consistent with a claim that communication skills were on top among the surveyed skills (Negro et al, 2017).…”

“…Recently, our study revealed that the employability skills of Bachelor of Secondary Education graduates include communication, information and communication technology, pedagogy, time management, flexibility, leadership, and classroom management skills (Caingcoy et al, 2021). This was consistent in the study of Biscante et al (2019) wherein communication skills were deemed most useful in work.…”

“…The 4 th Philippine Graduate Tracer Study conducted by Philippine Institute for Development Studies reported that graduates feel they did not sufficiently develop communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving (Tutor et al, 2019). This was supported in a recent study that a few had inadequately acquired communication skills (Caingcoy et al, 2021). On contrary, Negro et al (2017) reported that only the communication skills came up on top among the surveyed skills.…”

“…Stage 4 is closely similar to data extract in the systematic literature review. This paper organized 15 relevant pieces of literature on employability skills in a table with corresponding short details on the year of publication, authors' names (Abarro, 2017;Boholano 2012;Leyaley, 2015;Oboza, 2017;Caingcoy et al 2021;Santillan et al 2020;Ulanday, 2021;Posadas et al 2021;Garcia et al 2021;Molano, 2020;Daguplo et al 2019;Abas et al 2020;Abas & Imam, 2016;Belecina et al 2017;Aquino et al, 2015). For stage 5, this scoping review employed content analysis to collate, summarize and discuss vital information.…”

“…Communication skills have been consistently identified as top among the employable skills (Posadas et al, 2021;Caingcoy et al, 2021;Oboza, 2017). These skills obtained the highest response from the BSE and BEE Graduates of the University of Rizal System (Aborro, 2017).…”