CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM
Background of the Study
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. Kennedy
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 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,

Engineer,

Nurse,

Lawyer and Accountant.

When asked what accountants do, responses often mention
roles

such

functions

as

tax

performed

agents
by

the

and

independent

vast

number

of

auditors.

The

professional

2
accountants who work in businesses are often forgotten and
not well understood.
What do the independent director, the internal auditor
and the chief financial officer of companies all have in
common? The individuals in these positions could all be
professional

accountants

working

in

businesses.

Besides

these roles, professional accountants take on a vast array

of other roles in businesses of all sorts including in the
public

sector,

not-for-profit

sector,

regulatory

or

professional bodies, and academia. Their wide ranging work

and

experience

find

commonality

in

one

aspect

their

knowledge of accounting.
The importance of the role of professional accountants
in business in ensuring the quality of financial reporting
cannot be overly emphasized. Professional accountants in
business often find themselves being at the frontline of
safeguarding
Management

is

the

integrity

responsible

of

financial

reporting.

the

financial

information

for

produced by the company. As such, professional accountants

in

businesses

therefore

have

the

task

of

defending

the

quality of financial reporting right at the source where the

numbers and figures are produced.

Panpacific University North Philippines was established

in

1993

under

the

administration

of

Padilla.

Panpacific

University North Philippines is creating a promising and

rising university across the Urdaneta City which is now
developing its facilities and strengthening its faculty for
targeting accreditation for the better quality education it
offers.
This tracer study of BSA graduates of 2010-2014 of PUNP
is conducted to give significant feedback and to reconnect
graduates to their alma mater.
Tracer study is a method which is primarily intended to
locate

graduates

of

academic

institution,

past

recipient

of

scholarship grants, former participants and among other situation

in order to collect data and update information about this type of
people.
Some studies track down graduates in order to seek and
develop continuous feedback from their alma mater. This kind of
study is also geared to generate or influence decision making and
planning of a certain institution with regards to the development
of the curriculum. It is likewise regulating document efficiency

4
and support on the demographic profile of a certain institution
that can be measured through the quality of graduates
Of the total 207 graduates from 2010 to 2014, 34.78%
responded.

Year

2014

consisted

the

highest

number

of

graduates who responded while year 2010 has the least number
of respondents. Since many graduates are working outside
Pangasinan and only one took the opportunity to work abroad,
almost all were reached out through facebook since it is the
most popular platform of social media. Graduates from later
years are more active in using facebook than graduates of
earlier years. Hence, BSA graduates who graduated in the
later years were easier to be reached out than in the early
years.
The respondents are mostly at the age bracket of 21-25
which is a considerable number of BSA graduates at a younger
age because as to retrieval of the questionnaires, most of
the respondents were from the academic year 2014; hence
there will be a larger probability that we will be able to
get

the

BSA

graduates

who

pursued

graduate

studies

or

Bachelor of Laws at a younger age than usual. BSA graduates

who pursued further studies are in the age bracket of 21-25
years old which implicates that they are fully exercising
the

privilege

of

having

masters

or

law

degree.

5
Respondents in the age 26 and above are more matured in
terms

of

employability

because

all

them

are

already

employed.
In this contemporary time male are usually dominant
than female in terms of population size where in as to an
update of NSOs (National Statistics Office) Most Requested
Sex-disaggregated Statistics of the second quarter of 2013.
The population size of male is 49,051,520 or a total of 50.3
% and for female, it has 48,542,520 or a total of 49.7 %.
But in terms of employment rate females are more dominant
than males where in 93.4 % of the female are employed while
the total percentage of male employed were only 92.5 %.
Close

enough,

however,

this

does

not

mean

that

female is more reliable in terms of job than males. In this

study, in terms of employability, females have the highest
number of employed than male. This signifies that a few
number

of

male

graduates

of

Bachelor

of

Science

in

Accountancy has low percentage in terms of employability

rate. But in terms of pursuing further studies, almost all
respondents

who

pursued

further

studies

are

male.

This

indicates that due to the strong personality of male gender,

they are more interested in accepting big challenges in life
such as pursuing graduate studies or Bachelor of Laws and it

6
could be female gender are inclined to take care of her
family and the male gender is the provider of the family.
Almost all of the respondents are still single. This
indicates that these single BSA graduates have more focus on
the

practice

of

their

profession.

Moreover,

it

also

indicates that almost all married BSA graduates are in the

age 26 above, wherein they are already in the marrying age
and six of them are female, are enjoying the benefits of
their profession with their families.
A great majority of BSA graduates-respondents doesnt
have a plan for the pursuit of graduate studies or Bachelor
of

Laws

as

oppose

to

those

who

are

planning

to

pursue

graduate studies or Bachelor of Laws but almost all of the

BSA graduates-respondents perceive that the pursuance of
graduate studies or Bachelor of Laws is a necessity. All
respondents who pursued further studies decided to take a
graduate

study

classes

than

to

take

Bachelor

of

Laws.

Majority of BSA graduates did not pursue graduate studies or

law degree because they dont have the time to engage in
such activity.
The

findings

of

this

study

are

beneficial

to

the

students because it will encouraged and enlightened them

about the pursuance of Graduate Studies or Bachelor of Laws;

7
BSA graduates because it will motivate and help them decide
whether to take or not to take Graduate Studies or a law
degree; CBE coordinator and faculty because it will help
them to produce quality graduates, enhanced the quality of
education by imparting the benefits of having a degree. And
served as an inspiration to continue in taking up a masters
or law degree; school administrators because it will help
them trace the BSA graduates who continued to take Graduate
Studies or Bachelor of Laws, and monitor if the school
produces quality graduates with a masters or a law degree;
the researchers because this study has significant matter to
them

in

becoming

quality

product

of

the

Panpacific

University North Philippines; and future researchers because

the result of this study will be useful for the future
researchers

with

the

same

study

that

will

provide

them

relevant data enhancing their study.

Sawyer (2000) With this method the higher can get a
systematic feedback from their former students, to know the
whereabouts of the graduates, their working conditions and
their retrospective assessment of their course of the study
might stimulate the curricular debate and could also very
interesting for the current or later student.

8
Menahon (1992) His study was aimed to determine the
strengths and weaknesses that show particularly on graduates
and obtaining program data which would be utilized by the
members

of

the

instructional

of

the

stout

institute

in

(1982)

Combined

the

evaluating and improving curriculum.

Glass,

Cohen,

Smith

and

Tilley

results of more than one hundred research studies to come up

with general summary of how school size relates to increase
levels

of

pupil

achievement,

attitudes

and

teacher

satisfaction.
CHED (1995) the quality of higher education obtained by
a student depends on fairly well known factors. His/her
inputs

into

the

study

motivations

and

discipline,

the

quantity and quality of school inputs, the effectiveness of

the curriculum and teachers methods and the quality of the
school and home environment. Thus, in the paper of Ballmones
(1990) entitled The quality of higher education in the
Philippines expounds on the perception of graduates on the
usefulness

of

education

and

training

in

eliciting

their

views on how the academic program may be improved to make

such programs more responsive to the needs of the present
society.

9
A study conducted by Ethel Agnes P. Valenzuela and
Elaissa
graduates

Marina
in

conduct

E.

the

Mendoza

entitled

Philippines

regular

Employability

suggest

study

to

that

of

CHED

should

analyze

the

employment/unemployment of new graduates and provide up-todate information that will assist policy makers to address
graduate unemployment.
Piphop
effectiveness

(1983)
of

the

Part

of

graduates

his
in

evaluation
the

skills

of

the

training

program was in terms of employability as measured by the

length of waiting time for a job. The length of time in
landing a job was computed by the number of weeks, months or
years a graduate spend in looking for a job. The number of
times applying for a job refers to the total number of
application letter sent. The effectiveness of a university
is indicated by the employability of its graduates. It is
generally accepted that efficiency of training is measured
by the percentage of graduates who find their way into the
world of work to make a living out of the training received
from school.
An article from the site finduniversity.ph concludes
that many job positions require a masters degree, or give
an advantage to a masters degree holder and also a law

10
degree opens another job opportunities into the graduates.
The article also cited the advantages that there would be an
increase of salary and it can prove to be an asset when
looking for a job abroad.
Debono (2013),In his study Faculty of Arts Graduates
2003-2012 Tracer Study concluded that respondents whose
highest

qualification

is

at

postgraduate

level

spent

significantly less time unemployed and seeking employment

since their first graduation from the University of Malta.
Holders of postgraduate qualifications also tend to have
held more jobs since their first graduation. Significantly
more respondents with postgraduate qualifications required
their last FoA qualification in order to apply for their
current job and work on indefinite contracts when compared
to their peers with lower qualifications. Respondents with
postgraduate qualifications also earn considerably more and
are

much

more

likely

to

be

in

jobs

that

match

their

expectations than their peers with lower qualifications.

Chow (1988), In her study A follow-up study of the
1986

and

1987

accounting

graduates

of

the

Kwai

Chung

Technical Institute to determine the effectiveness of the

two-year accounting curriculum revealed that more than 80%
of the 1956 and 1987 accounting graduates of the Kwai Chung

11
Technical institute took accounting positions immediately
after their graduation, the current Kuai Chung Technical
Institute
adequate

two-year
jab

positions

in

in

accountancy

preparing

the

curriculum

students

business

for

community

is

entry
and

doing

an

accounting

the

two-year

accounting curriculum at the Kwai Chung Technical Institute

is helping fill the need for accounting technicians in Hong
Kong.
University of Kent, in their study, found that the
percentage of Accounting and Finance graduates continuing
into full-time postgraduate study is under 10% - about half
of the figure for graduates overall. Most will study for a
professional

accountancy

qualification

through

part-time

study while working rather than a Masters degree. Higher

degrees in Accounting and Finance tend to be academic rather
than vocational, although there are exceptions such as the
MSC in International Securities, Investment and Banking at
the University of Reading. Graduates who do not wish to
follow

finance-related

career

may

consider

general

postgraduate business degree, such as the MBA; however, as

noted above, many graduate employers are happy to recruit
Accounting

&

Finance

graduates

into

general

functions straight from their first degree.

business

12
A

study

Accountants

sponsored
and

the

by

the

Financial

Institute
Executives

of

Management

Institute

to

determine the educational needs of entry-level management

accountants was conducted by Siegel and Sorensen (1994).
According to corporate America, universities were inadequate
in preparing students for entry-level work in management
accounting.

Fifty

percent

of

respondents

believed

that

entry-level management accountants should also take the 150

hours of college education as stipulated by the AICPA for
being eligible to write its exams commencing the year 2000.
Eighty-five percent of the 50% felt that the additional 30
hours

should

be

earned

subsequent

to

the

entry-level

accountant starting his or her job. It also appeared from

the

study

that

employers

were

more

interested

in

the

specific courses completed than in the number of credit

hours earned.
American

Institute

of

Certified

Public

Accountants

(AICPA) showed, through their survey, that opportunities in

the accounting profession continue to expand as the needs of
firms and businesses grow ever more complex and global. In
fact,
growth

the
in

Occupational
accounting

Outlook
and

Handbook

auditing

estimates

jobs

through

22%

2018.

13
Graduates with a master's degree and CPA certification
have the brightest outlook of all.
Gicana and Associates (2006) conducted a tracer study
for

the

CPU

objective

College

of

their

of

Computer

tracer

study

studies
is

to

graduates.
gather

The

relevant

information as to the employability of the graduates in the

CPU College of Computer Studies graduate from School Year
2001

to

2005.

relationship

They

found

between

out

the

that

there

school

is

relevant

performance

and

employability of the respondents.

Catay (1990) Conducted a follow up of the commerce
graduates of San Nicholas College, to find out how many of
the graduates were employed in the government agencies and
private institutions as well as self-employed, and whether
their alma mater has been of great help in their quest for
employment. She found that majority of the respondents, 156
or

94%

of

unemployed.

them
The

was

employed

graduates

and

believed

only
that

10
the

or

6%

were

curriculum

offered by San Nicholas College, Commerce Department was

relevant to the times.

15
Conceptual Framework
The paradigm of the study followed the Input-ProcessOutput Scheme of Paul Zwanoepol which is shown in Figure 1.
The Input load included the independent variables or
the personal profile and employment profile of the Bachelor
of Science in Accountancy Graduates of College of Business
Education of Panpacific University North Philippines from
2010-2014. Determining the number of Bachelor of Science in
Accountancy

Graduates

who

pursued

and

those

who

were

planning to pursue the Graduate Studies or Bachelor of Laws

is also relevant.
Personal

information

included

the

age,

location,

gender, civil status, year they have graduated and also the
year they finished their masteral or their law degree.
Current

employment

profile

included

their

current

positions, worksite and also the range of their salary.

The process load included the assessing of the Bachelor
of

Science

in

Accountancy

graduates

of

masteral

or

law

degree towards their current employment through constructed

questionnaire survey via electronic or in printed materials.
Output

load

showed

the

employment

status

of

the

Bachelor of Science in Accountancy graduates of masteral or

16
law degree and its advantage in their current field of work.
This study may also improve the choice of the graduates of
Bachelor of Science in Accountancy through the evaluation of
the rationale of pursuing Graduate Studies or Bachelor of
Laws.
This is further illustrated on Figure 1.

INPUT

PROCESS

OUTPUT

17

Personal Profile
of the BSA
graduates of
Panpacific
University North
Philippines:
o Age
o Gender
o Civil status
o Year graduated
o Graduate
studies
taken

Assessing the Bachelor

of Science in
Accountancy graduates of
masteral or law degree

Improvement of the

towards their current

choice of the BSA

employment through:

graduates through

Printed survey

questionnaire
Electronic Survey

the evaluation of
the rationale of
the pursuance of
Graduate Studies or

questionnaire

Bachelor of Laws
Knew the advantage
or the benefits of
having the masteral

Number of
Bachelor of
Science in
Accountancy
graduates who
pursued and
those who were
planning to
pursue graduate
studies or law
degree

or a law degree
with the
employability
Employment status of
the Bachelor of
Science in
Accountancy

Employment data
of BSA graduates

FEEDBACK
Figure 1 Paradigm of the Study

18
Statement of the Problem
This study aimed to trace the employability status of
the

BSA

graduates

of

the

Panpacific

University

North

Philippines from school years 2009-2010 to 2013-2014. This

study also attempted

to evaluate the extent to which the

pursuance of Graduate Studies or Bachelor of Laws would be

beneficial.
This study would contribute to the improvement of the
choice of the BSA graduates, as to pursuing further studies,
through the evaluation of the rationale of the pursuance of
the studies.
Specifically,

this

study

sought

to

answer

the

following problems:
1. What factors affects the BSA graduates on the pursuance
of Graduate Studies or Bachelor of Laws in terms of the
following:
1.a Financial benefit;
1.b Work / Employment benefit;
1.c Self-Fulfillment?
2. What is the profile of the BSA graduates in terms of
the following:

19
2.a Employability;
2.b Reasons of unemployment;
2.c Present position/designation;
2.d Employment status;
2.e Salary range;
2.f First job after graduation;
2.g Relationship of the course they took up in college
withtheir first job;
2.h

Length

of

time

to

land

their

first

job

after

graduation;
2.i Initial gross monthly earning in their first job;
2.j Relevance of the college curriculum with their
first job;
2.k Competencies learned in the institution which is
very useful on their first job?
3. What is the influence of having a masteral degree or
Bachelor of Laws with the employability?
Research Hypotheses
The BSA graduates are affected by financial benefit,
work/employment

benefit

and

self-fulfillment

Graduate Studies or Bachelor of Laws.

in

pursuing