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Introduction
Year after year, colleges and universities in the Philippines produce more than
500,000 fresh graduates that are ready to apply their learned skills and penetrate the
workplace. Amongst them, only 4 out of 10 will get a job one year after their graduation
(Flores qtd. by Orbeta, Gonzales, Cortez, 2016). Besides the high risk of unemployment,
certain barriers can also hinder the hiring of fresh graduates. Some of these could be the
conflict between the graduates’ skills and the demand of employers, the surplus of graduates
and/or lack of opportunities in the area of specialization, or lower pay than the graduate’s
One of the options that a job seeker can do to increase employability in this overly
competitive job market is to apply for a postgraduate degree. This could be a great addition in
a curriculum vitae and enables one to apply for higher-level jobs, which can be likened to a
This value runs true and can be manifested in the education sector. In S.Y. 2018-2019
alone, 40.6% of the University of the Philippines Diliman enrollees are postgraduate students
(“UP Diliman - Enrolment Statistics”). This includes those enrolled for obtaining a Juris
Doctor as well as master’s degree and doctor’s degree of various disciplines. If almost half of
the national university’s enrollment is composed of those in the postdoctoral degree, then it
can be said that the institution and the students' place postdoctoral degree in high importance.
It can be further said that such importance can be in hopes of becoming a better job candidate
in the excessively competitive job market of the Philippines. This paper aims to make an
inquiry of why we place such values in a postdoctoral degree and what we sacrifice in
enables one to advance their career and increase their earning potential. In the Philippines, a
person with at least tertiary education or higher earns 77.24% than those with a secondary
degree in 2006. This margin is also expected to grow since having tertiary education or
higher is estimated to have an annualized growth rate of 0.94%, highest if stratified according
to educational status (Hasan & Handoc, 2009 12). Employers are also looking for hiring those
with more advanced degrees, saying that companies have raised their educational standard
requirements in the last five years (Nauen). Training received in the master's program can
help increase exposure in a person’s chosen field and as a result, gives specialized knowledge
to advance in this chosen field. Obtaining a master’s degree and other further studies allow
increased contact to meet people related to chosen fields and enhance a person’s professional
network (Shulsinger).
University of the Philippines System for instance, instructors are hired based on the
expectation that they are to undertake graduate courses. The university also requires that the
instructor enroll in a reputable institution that is recognized by the university and must finish
within prescribed time periods. To climb up the ranks, the teacher must have finished his or
her master’s degree and must have started doctoral studies to be promoted to assistant
professor levels. Associate Professor and Professor titles on the other hand, require a PhD or
any equivalent terminal degree. On top of postdoctoral studies and teaching, the faculty
member is also expected to participate in research or creative work and provide service to the
university and the larger community (UP Systems Manual Series 2: Shaping Our Institutional
institutions. The Department of Education for instance, promotes teachers from Teacher 3 to
Master Teacher 1 if the teacher has been regularized, has had at least three years of
experience, and have very satisfactory performance. However, to reach Master Teacher 2, the
teacher must have already completed his or her master’s degree (Tanauan).
The salary grade of teachers working in the government with a rank of teacher
3 falls under salary grade 13, earning about PHP 25,232. Promotion to be a Master Teacher 1
raises it to salary grade 18 while earning the title Master Teacher 2 increases it to salary grade
19. Salary grade 19 allows one to earn PHP 45,269. (“DepEd Teachers Salary Grade | SSL
Third Tranche (2018)” ). This implies that a teacher in the government service could either
mature in years and experience waiting to be promoted to Master Teacher 1 or hasten the
process by just getting a master’s degree among other requirements. In this example,
postgraduate degree units made a difference in earning potential by 20,000 pesos more
monthly.
Since employers use postgraduate degrees as prerequisite for job opportunities and
promotion, most people opt to work and study higher degrees at the same time. Studying full-
time is not an option to all since not everyone has the financial capacity to pursue extra
education without compromising earning for basic needs. Thus, pursuing post-graduate
In the article “How hard did they have to work for their Ph.D.?”, Dr. Jofre M. Alajar,
who has earned his Doctorate in Business Administration in San Beda College recalled how
working student, time management was important to be able to study well for
2015). Such habits have seemed to continue in post graduate studies. It was found in a study
that 65% postgraduate students have inadequate sleep and poor sleep quality. Fifty percent of
the participants even recall daytime dysfunction while sixty percent report night time waking
or early morning waking (Garg et al). Increase in workload brought about by studying and
working have seemed to aggravate sleeping conditions among post graduate students. Aside
from which, it can also be noted that graduate students have life outside work and academe
and are also in their adult formation years, where there is a need to build relationships and
Conclusion
The value of a postgraduate degree lies in its ability to hasten career goals and
get better job opportunities while increasing specialized knowledge and professional network
in the field of interest. Some institutions, more commonly in the academe settings, hold
postgraduate degree in high regards such that acquiring it becomes the standard of
qualification for both hiring and advancing in the career ladder. This pushes most of the
students to pursue higher education while working in the job that uses it as a criterion for
growth. However, this inquiry does not in any way intend to degrade or belittle the standards
placed upon by educational institutions, as the demonstrations cited were mostly from
education, in safeguarding the quality of instructors and the education system alike. In this
context, postgraduate education was seen as an objective qualifier of ensuring that a person
holds credibility to acquire a position, when it is not always the case. This paper recognizes
its limitation of not looking into how a postgraduate degree affects other field aside from the
investment that expects its students to undergo physical, mental, and financial strains with an
allows only greater chance at survival in the labor market but does not systematically solve
the unemployment and job mismatch problem in the Philippines. The society that values a
postgraduate degree promotes a survival of the fittest idealism wherein the one with the best
skill set and had better opportunities will thrive. It further begs the question of whom has set
the standard that allows these ideals to persist regardless of how it affects the people under it,
may it be having or not having a higher degree. More analyses are recommended on
answering what forces the system to view education as investment and humans as capital
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Orbeta Jr., Aniceto, Gonzales, Kathrina, and Cortes, Sol Francesca. Are Higher Education
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Tanauan, Maravel L., et al. “Criteria for Master Teacher.” TeacherPH, 28 Mar. 2016,
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