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Background of the Study

“Education is the only heritage we can give you”, a common saying of Filipino parents to

their children. In the Philippines, education is held in high regard. This is evidenced by State

Universities and Colleges (SUCs) having 1,648,566 enrollees and 280,796 graduates for academic

year 2015-2016 (Commission on Higher Education, 2017). For many, education is considered as an

investment that affords them a way out of poverty. It is seen as the key to improving the quality of

life, the primary means for social and economic elevation. Parents spend their meager resources to

have their children educated, hoping that a good education will lead to attractive jobs for them.

Despite the high value and expectation placed on education, many graduates find

themselves unemployed even after earning a degree. In 2017, the unemployed persons numbered

about 2.4 million resulting to an annual unemployment rate of 5.7 percent. Of this number, 76.1

percent belonged to age group 15 to 34 years. Those in the age group 15 to 24 years comprised

46.7 percent and those in the age group 25 to 34 years, 29.4 percent (Bersales, 2017). There are

various reasons concluded for unemployment: the economy’s difficulty in absorbing the high

number of new entrants to the labour force, failure of government to create the needed climate to

attract investors, inadequate skills even after college education, etc. Whatever the cause of the

high rate of unemployment may be, the combination of competent skills, good credentials, and

great timing is deemed an advantage by job seekers. However, what skills do employers expect

from their employees?

Technical and non-technical skills are honed through Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) provides a set of minimum curriculum design for a

specific course. HEIs are allowed to design the curricula as they see fit to their own contexts and
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missions provided that they attain the required minimum set of outcomes. Thus, HEIs, through

careful review, can incorporate additional courses to that set by CHED. In this regard, the

researchers are intent on determining the necessity of the skills acquired in school to the labour

market viewed from the perspective of the graduates.

Striving for a college degree takes time, effort, and money. If skills attained from a higher

education program of choice do not land the graduate a job, then the investment in education did

not pay off. Maybe the HEI’s given educational program indicate a possible deficit or other

myriad of factors may have affected the graduate’s job placement. If skills learned from a

specific subject is not in demand in the labour market, then the HEIs can investigate and decide

to opt out some parts in the educational program. And likewise include and give emphasis to

courses in the program that is deemed more employable.

This study is set to help the students to choose the most practical skills for job

employment. Additionally, to help reprogram the curriculum to meet the demand of the labour

market and just focus on what is necessary.

Objective of the Study

Generally, this study primarily aims to assess the relevance of CNSC-BSCE Technical

Electives to employment as perceived by its civil engineering graduates from 2012-2016 with the

following sub-objectives:

1. To determine the employment/unemployment rate of CNSC-BSCE graduates.

2. To ascertain the reasons of graduates’ unemployment.

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3. To determine the employment characteristics of the CNSC-BSCE graduates in terms

of:

a. Employment status

b. First job related to course

c. Present job

d. Tools in finding first job

e. Length of first job search

4. To determine the effect of gender differences in employment.

5. To find out the technical electives in the CNSC-BSCE curriculum that the graduates

deem useful in their first to present job.

Statement of the Problem

This study will be conducted to assess the relevance of CNSC-BSCE curriculum’s

technical electives to employment of its graduates of 2012-2016.

Specifically, it will answer the following questions:

1. What is the response rate of the graduates from 2012 to 2016 as classified by year

graduated?

2. What is the employment/unemployment rate of CNSC-BSCE graduates?

3. What is the reason of graduates’ unemployment?

4. What is the employment characteristic of the CNSC-BSCE graduates in terms of:

a. Employment status

b. First job related to course

c. Present job
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d. Tools in finding first job

e. Length of first job search

6. What is the effect of gender differences in employment?

7. What technical electives in the CNSC-BSCE curriculum did the graduates deem

useful in their first to present job?

Significance of the Study

This study is highly significant to the following:

CNSC-CoEng Administration. This study will be significant basis for BSCE academic

curriculum review and re-engineering of the subject content. It will also provide information

about the graduates’ chosen career.

The Faculty. This will help the instructors to upgrade the standards by continuously uplifting

the minds of the students to be competitive and excel in their respective areas of specialization

by cultivating and advancing academic skills.

The Parents. This will serve as parents’ guide in encouraging their college children in their

studies.

The Students. The result of the investigation will serve as an eye opener to the students taking

BSCE course to be motivated in pursuing their profession.

Future Researchers. This study will serve as reference to the researcher for their future studies.
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Alternative Hypothesis

The technical electives of CNSC BSCE curriculum assist graduates in their job placement.

Null Hypothesis

The technical electives of CNSC BSCE curriculum do not assist graduates in their job

placement.

Scope and Delimitation

This study will be participated upon by CNSC BSCE graduates from 2012-2016. The

distribution of graduates per year and the actual turn out of respondents were collected from the

college registrar’s office. Sample population size was determined through Slovin’s Formula.

The technical electives of CNSC-BSCE, which focuses on Structural Engineering, will be

considered based from the minimum required curriculum by CHED Memorandum Order No.29

series of 2007 and additional BSCE courses from CNSC College of Engineering reprogram. This

study will be conducted with a limited time framework, starting from July to August 2018.
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Definition of Terms

These are the terms to encounter and frequently used to understand the process of this

research paper.

Accredited. Officially recognized as meeting the essential requirements, as of academic

excellence.

Alumni. A graduate or former student of a specific school, college, or university.

BSCE. stands for Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.

Career. A period spent in a job or profession.

Civil Engineer. Is a professional who provides services in the form of planning, designing,

constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and

environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.

CHED. stands for Commission on Higher Education. It is the Philippine government’s agency in

charged with promoting relevant and quality higher education, ensuring access to quality higher

education, and guaranteeing and protecting academic freedom for continuing intellectual growth,

advancement of learning and research, development of responsible and effective leadership,

education of high level professionals, and enrichment of historical and cultural heritages (British

Council).

CNSC. stands for Camarines Norte State College.

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Competency. The combination of observable and measurable knowledge, skills, abilities and

personal attributes that contribute to enhanced employee performance and ultimately result in

organizational success. (University of Nebraska)

Curriculum. Subjects comprising a course of study in a school or college. It is a program made

by the institution which determines the learning progress of each subject.

Employment. To provide service in exchange of compensation in a period agreed by employer

and employee.

Employment status. The status of the employee in their job whether they are regular or

permanent, contractual, casual, temporary, or self-employed.

First job. In this study, a job is considered a job when work has been done for at least 3 months

or when a job contract is signed with a credible company.

HEI. stands for Higher Education Institution.

Job Placement. To be put into an occupation fitting to skills and interest but is usually for only a

temporary period.

Labour Market. It is the demand and supply of labour. The labour demand is the businesses’

demand for labour and supply is the worker's supply of labour.

Length of first job search. This is the measure of how long graduates found their first job from the

date of their graduation. It is noted that most of CNSC BSCE Graduates spent 6 months of their time

from graduation in Engineering Review for the Civil Engineering Licensure Examination.
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PRC. stands for Professional Regulation Commission. The PRC functions to conduct and

administer licensure examinations to aspiring professionals, and to regulate and supervise the

practice of the professions.

Present job. Current or existing work.

Relevance. This is the degree to which something is related or useful. In this study, it is how

closely related is the skills learned from the curriculum to job placement.

Slovin’s formula. Is used to calculate the sample size (n) given the size population (N) and a

margin of error (e), it’s a random sampling technique formula to estimate sampling size. It is

2
computed as n=N/(1+Ne ).

Technical Electives. Included in the professional technical courses of the CNSC BSCE

curriculum. This comprises of Technical Electives 1 to 5, namely, Earthquake Engineering,

Rebar, Prestressed Concrete Design, Bridge Engineering, and Professional Ethics.

Tools in finding first job. Through recommendation by someone, response to an advertisement,

as walk-in applicant, job fair or public employment service, and any other ways in finding a job.
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END NOTES

Bersales, L.G.S. (2017, December 18). 2017 Annual Labor and Employment Status. Retrieved
from https://psa.gov.ph/content/2017-annual-labor-and-employment-status.

British Council. About the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). Retrieved from
https://www.britishcouncil.ph/tne/about/ched.

Commission on Higher Education (2017, June 8). Higher Education Institutions Data. Retrieved
from http://ched.gov.ph/higher-education-institutions-data/.

Orejana, A.J., & Resurreccion P.F. (2010). Tracer Study on the Graduates of the BSBA Program:
An input to Curricular Development. Retrieved from https://ejournals.ph/article.php?
id=7051.

Proffsg (2017, November 22). 32 Best Civil Engineering Schools in the Philippines for 2017.
Retrieved from http://www.localpulse.net/education/top-schools/32-best-civil-
engineering-schools-philippines-2017-17126/.

University of Nebraska. The Definition of Competencies and Their Application at NU. Retrieved
from https://hr.unl.edu/compensation/nuvalues/corecompetencies.shtml/.