Employability of Biology Graduates of a State University: A Tracer Study

ABSTRACT


INTRODUCTION Background of the Study
Program relevance of an academic curricular offering is one of the issues that higher education institutions address.Program relevance is the alignment of the curricular program in academic institutions to the trends and needs of the local and global society.Higher education institutions must prepare their graduates for the challenges of the global workforce despite the drastic change in the labor market, both in local and global society (Naidoo et al., 2011).In addition, the professional competence of a graduate can be determined by the development of relevant academic programs.To assess the relevance of a curricular program of a higher educational institution is by tracing the employability and performance of their graduates that is suited to the needs of the labor market in a local and global society.Reusia et al. (2020) also mentioned that the program relevance of an academic program can be identified through the feedback provided by the graduates.Information given by the graduates of a curricular program is seemingly significant and reliable for they are the ones who obtained the learning experience that they can utilize in their respective chosen profession, thus contributing to the development of a curriculum that improves the quality of instruction (Cuadra, et al., 2019).
Tracer study served as one of the mechanisms in providing feedback regarding the program provided by an academic institution, thus, contributing to the enhancement of curricular offerings (Llego & Banez, 2017).In addition, the tracer study also determined the alignment of the curricular offering of a certain degree program, in a higher education institution, to the needs of local and global organizations.Moreover, this also contributes to the fast-paced needs of the labor market under the industry 4.0 and Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) world.On the other hand, Biology is a science that deals with living organisms.It is also called the science of life.This branch of science is being offered as one of the curricular offerings across the globe-in both graduate and undergraduate programs.In the Philippine context, the undergraduate offering of Biology is governed by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) through its memorandum No. 39 series of 2017.The guidelines mentioned prescribe requirements in the offering of the program as well as the competencies that the graduates should acquire which include being biological scientists in both public and private agencies, engaging in entrepreneurial activities, becoming biological researchers, teaching biological science and other related fields and may pursue graduate programs (CHED, 2017).Thus, the study aimed to trace the employability of and professional development of Biology graduates of a state university in Central Luzon, Philippines.In addition, the results of this study may serve as a basis for program enhancement.

METHODOLOGY Design
In determining the employability and professional development of the biology undergraduate program of a state university in Central, Luzon, Philippines, descriptivea quantitative research design was employed.A descriptive research design is suitable for determining and analyzing the problems and issues in society by describing the current social situation (Fox & Bayat, 2007).

Participants and Setting
Total sampling method, from the 97 graduates of bachelor of science in biology graduates of a state university in central Luzon, Philippines from batch 2008-2019, was employed.Researchers seek approval from the participants before the data gathering.State University is an academic higher education institution governed and mandated by the government through the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Research Instrument and Data Analysis
The main instrument employed in attaining the objective of the study is the Graduate Tracer Study Questionnaire aligned to the instrument used by the Commission of Higher Education (CHED) in the Philippines.This instrument contained questions relative to the demographic profile of the respondents, their employment status, and professional development.The instrument was subjected to content validation by the experts in the field and reliability measures, before data gathering.Moreover, to describe the respondents' profile, employment status, and professional development, descriptive statistics such as mean, frequency, percentage, and standard deviation were utilized through the SPSS v. 23.

Profile of the Respondents
Presented in Table 1 are the profiles of the respondents.The data shown in Table 1 described that the majority of biology graduate respondents are young and recently finished the degree with an age range of 22 to 25 years old, 39 (40.63%).The result can be attributed to the fact that the current graduates are still actively participating in college endeavors and connect to their junior classmates as well as with their teachers often (Hipona, Cuevas, and Martin, 2021;Cuadra, Aure, and Gonzaga, 2019).Moreover, data revealed that graduates of BS Biology are predominantly female (56.70%) than male (43.30%).
The sex disparity in the field of science may be rooted in gender role assignment and belief in our society where women are in the medical field and men are in the industrial sector (Hanson, Westerlund, and Vaughan, 2020).
The number of graduates in BS Biology since its offering in 2005 has been low.This could be a reflection of the low number of secondary students in the Philippines who continue to life sciences in their tertiary education and the high number pursuing engineering and technology field industries (Rafanan, De Guzman, and Rogayan, 2020).
The choice of tertiary course students is highly related to their desire for a tenure after they have finished their tertiary education, hence, their pursuit of industry-lined courses.
Almost half of the students who pursued life sciences and finished BS Biology (52.58%) further their studies either currently enrolled or had finished their Master's and doctorate degrees (Belfield, Boneva, Rauh and Shaw, 2016).

Respondents Reason for Taking Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees
Accordingly, it was revealed in a study that the main driver of students pursuing advance studies is their decision (23.71%) to increase their competitive chance of acquiring tenure (23.71%) and/or getting promoted to higher positions in their respective fields (38.14%; 37.11%) both within and outside the country (23.71%) as seen in Table 2.
The results of the current study coincide with the results of other research in that alumni pursue graduate school studies for personal and professional growth as well as increasing their self-esteem and competence (Shellhouse, Spratley, and Suarez, 2020;Gentova, Madrigal, and Bual, 2023).

Respondents' Employability
In line with the aforementioned results and discussions, the pursuit of graduate studies has ensured the alumni their competitive chance in being hired for work and offered tenure in their job ensuring the employability frequency of BS Biology graduates to 77.32 percent as seen in Table 3.This signifies that the graduates of BS Biology have higher chances of being employed due to their acquired skills in the program and enhanced by their advanced studies in the field (Camuyong, Decena, Reyes, Malong, Gregorio, Magtalas and Adlawan, 2023).
unavailability of job opportunities are mainly due to the economic recessions happening within and outside the country as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic where the closure of the majority of business enterprises and adamant discharge of employees closing job opportunities to the fresh graduates (Antipova, 2021;OECD, 2021;Gould and Kassa, 2020).Although a steady rise in online employment opportunities has been observed during the pandemic, disadvantaged graduates belonging to the middle to low-income family could not keep up with the technological job requirements as a result of their economic capabilities, hence, the absence of job opportunities for them (Antipova, 2021;OECD, 2021).

Respondents' Period of Employment for the First Job
It can be deemed from the results in Table 5 that the BS Biology graduates were employed within the first year upon their graduation (70.10%) and were hired in less than a month (25.77%).The results of the study coincide with the results of other research that graduates in the Philippines could find and start working within the first year after their graduation, though most of this employment is on a contractual basis and from private sectors that may be unaligned to the degree they had obtained but were pursued by the graduates while waiting for them to find tenure in their desired sector and or after they had finished their advance graduate studies (Caingcoy, Ramirez, Gaylo, Adajar, Lacdag, and Blanco, 2022;Alemu and Yismaw, 2022).
related tracer studies, it is found out that the majority landed on the first job-related to their course (Centillas, Lumbay & Larisma, 2017;Chavez et al., 2016).

Graduates' Employment Status
It is also disclosed in Table 7 that the majority of the graduates were employed.Most of the employed respondents are Permanent with 40 or 47.06% of the total employed respondents, 21 or 24.71% were contractual, some graduates were also employed under Job-order and Temporary-Regular with 8 or 9.41% and a few were also Casual employees and self-employed with 3 or 3.53% respectively.The BS Biology graduates are employable and they possess the skills necessary in the workplace.
The results are coherent with the study of Camuyong et. al., (2023) which recorded a higher percentage of permanent employment status among graduates.Mokhtal et.al. ( 2022), claimed that an individual must possess the necessary information, abilities, and attitudes to secure employment, as well as the know-how to make the most of those resources to market themselves effectively to potential employers.In a study conducted by, Cuadra, et. Al (2019), respondents disclosed that they stayed on their first job for three top reasons, which included salaries and benefits related to course program of study, and career challenge.These were also the reasons for switching, changing, and leaving from their first one.Furthermore, employability is a set of achievements, skills, and personal attributes that allow graduates to more easily gain employment, which benefits themselves, their workforce, the community, and the economy.In the study of Mokhtar, et al., (2022), graduates are categorized according to the employability problem if they find it hard to gain employment after six months of their graduation.Employability is the circumstance in which graduates can land their first job, they can keep their employment and, if necessary, find another employment.Additionally, they can move forward in the workforce and upgrade themselves so that they can reach their full potential in a sustainable setting.An individual must possess the necessary information, abilities, and attitudes to secure employment, as well as the know-how to make the most of those resources to market themselves effectively to potential employers.In According to the study conducted by Irene and Greif (2022), though the majority of their respondents are employed with permanent status, despite having graduated as scholars, others are holding temporary, casual, and contractual status.they chose to serve their province, opting to be employed locally and near their home residence (Sentilleces & Rungduin, 2013).Graduates contemplating international migration recognize the potential for broader career prospects and exposure to diverse cultures and markets (Szmigiera, 2021).This is also supported by the study of Eslit ( 2023), as one respondent stated "While international migration is tempting, I believe that staying rooted in my local community is essential.There's meaningful work to be done right here, and I want to contribute to my region's development."that recommendation has the highest frequency gaining a response of 24 out of 97 and with a percentage of 24.74%, revealing that most of the respondents obtain the information about their job through recommendations.Similar results were also observed in the study of Camuyong et.al. (2023) where most of their respondents found their first job through someone's recommendation In a government agency, due to a limited number of permanent positions, jobs are given either for contractual or job order employees.Likewise, scholars employed in state universities, usually begin as temporary or provisionary until they have finished their master's degrees.

Graduates Source of Information about Their Current Job
Table 11 shows the BS Biology Graduates' source of information about their current job.The data shows reasons for graduates to stay on their first job.Similar findings were also gleaned in the study of Macatangay (2013).

Graduates Job Relevance to Course
Table 14 reflects the BS Biology Graduates' Job Relevance to the Course/Degree completed.The data gleaned that 47.42% of the respondents revealed that the knowledge and skills they acquired during their bachelor's degree are relevant to their present jobs.While 29.90% of them assessed that their course/degree as having no-relevance and on the other hand 22.68% of the respondents were impartial.The non-relevance of the curriculum is attributed to the graduates whose current jobs are nonaligned to their degree or field of specialization.The study conducted by Macatangay (2013), revealed that curriculum, and quality of instruction in both general education and major subjects are relevant in graduates' employability.The same study also states that Quality of instruction, mastery of the subject matter being taught, and relating the subjects to other fields and other life situations were the top three very relevant factors to employment.This is also supported by Lijueraj et.al.
(2019) stating that the degree programs that students pursue help improve their skills and their employment status.16 reflects the competencies and skills developed by graduates of BS Biology programs.All the developed skills were comparable, including critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, information literacy, media literacy, flexibility, leadership, initiative, productivity, and social skills.It can be shown that critical thinking or the ability to find a solution to problems was perceived to have the highest contribution among graduates, with a mean of 4.42 (SD=0.775).Critical thinking skills are followed by creativity or the ability to think outside the box, with a mean of 4.37 (SD=0.795).Lastly, Information and media literacy acquires a mean of 4.35 (SD=0,737).Meanwhile, the results coincide with the study of Nold (2017), in which one of the primary goals of colleges and universities is to develop critical thinking as a necessary skill beyond the classroom.Furthermore, critical thinking involves more than accumulating information rather than identifying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating Am.J. Multidis.Res.Innov.2(6) 57-67, 2023 information to yield knowledge and higher-order cognition, considered one of the strongest predictors of long-term success in the workplace.Moreover, the study by Al Zou'bi (2022) indicates that the generation born in the digital age will empower digital competencies to formulate knowledge and produce information in a digital environment.Thus, all the presented skills are generally needed to meet employment requirements after graduation (Mokhtar et al., 2022).In line with the aforementioned results and discussions, the research demand was deemed the most relevant program in terms of the Major Professional course.

Usefulness of Those Skills and Competencies in Graduate's Previous and/or Current Job
Thus, scientific research promotes peer development, knowledge, and increased confidence, is a hallmark of research for the community, and contributes to employment (Shaffer et al).

CONCLUSION
Based on the results and discussion of the study, the researchers inferred that most of the graduates of the BS biology were employed locally in a government institution, had a permanent employment status, and pursued graduate programs in order to expand their knowledge and skills needed for their respective careers.
For those who weren't employed is said to be due to poor job opportunities present for them in the locality.The results also implied that most of the graduates pursued a teaching career which is one of the program objectives of biology as stipulated in the guidelines mandated by the CHED.It is also concluded that the most effective source of information about the job opportunity is through recommendation.Graduates are also satisfied and less likely to resign from their current jobs.It is also said that their undergraduate program is relevant to their occupation, especially for those who pursued careers in educational settings, specifically in their general education and professional courses.Lastly, the BS Biology undergraduate program contributes to the development of essential professional skills and competencies that are useful and relevant to their current job.
neutral.It is clear from the data that 43 (44.33%) or almost half respondents were employed in education.The majority of young Filipinos are inspired to teach to bring positive change, share knowledge and skills, and transform the lives of the younger generation (Rogayan 2018).

Table 1 :
Profile of the Respondents (N=97)

Table 2 :
Reasons for taking the Bachelor's Degree and/or pursuing Graduate School Degree(s) Bachelor

's Degree Graduate School Degree Frequency Percent Frequency Percent High
grades in the course or subject area(s) related to the course 12

Table 3 :
Frequency of the Employability of the Graduates Reasons for UnemploymentIt can be culled from Table4that the reasons among the BS Biology graduates for being not yet employed were unavailability of job opportunities (90.91%) and pursuit to advance studies (9.09%).The results of the

Table 4 :
Reason(s)of Not yet Employed

Table 5 :
Period of Employability for the First Job Table6depicts the Frequency of Jobs since Graduation of the respondents.Most of the respondents 25 or 19.53% are employed in their first job after graduation; 18.75% were employed in their second and fourth job since graduation; 18 or 14.06% of the graduates were on their third job while 15 or 11.72% were on their fifth job since graduation.There are still 22 or 17.19% of the respondents who were never employed.

Table 6 :
Frequency of Jobs since Graduation

Table 7 :
Graduates Employment Status

Table 8
31%.Most graduate respondents are employed in a teaching position thus confirming the study conducted that in the Philippines, the teaching profession is highly regarded, as teachers are viewed to be catalysts of change and nation-builders(Rogayan, 2018).The majority of the graduates are employed within Zambales implying that

Table 8 :
Graduates' Current Job Title Frequency

, Agents, Brokers and Customer Relations, Support
Table 9 presents the graduates' employment workplace.

Table 9 :
Graduates Employment Workplace

Table 10 :
Graduates Employment Type of Company/

Table 11 :
Graduates' source of information about their current job

Table 12 :
Level of Satisfaction of the Graduates'

Intention of Staying in the Same Job
Furthermore, it can be culled in Table13that more than half of the respondents are positive about in staying the same job/profession.A study conducted byLijueraj et.al.(2019), revealed that salaries, benefits related to course program of study, and career challenges are the top three

Table 13 :
Intention of staying in the same job/profession

Table 14 :
Graduates Job Relevance to Course / Degree completed

Table 16 :
Contribution of curricular programs to the Graduate's skill development during college

Table 17 :
Usefulness of those skills and competencies in Graduate's previous and/or current job

of Program's Curriculum in Previous and/or Current Job in Terms of Major or Professional Course Taken
Practice Teaching/ Teaching Assistantship/ Nursing RLE Core/Elective/Major / Professional Subjects, Core / Elective / Major / Professional Subjects with a mean of 4.1 (SD=1.123);4.04 (SD=1.1241)and 3.81 (SD=1.253)respectively.

Table 18 :
Relevance of program's curriculum in previous and/or current job in terms of General Education Subject

Table 20 :
Relevance of program's curriculum in previous and/or current job in terms of Major or

Table 19 :
Relevance of program's curriculum in previous and/or current job in terms of Major or

Relevance of Program's Curriculum in Previous and/or Current Job in Terms of Major or Professional Course Taken
Table 20 depicts the major or professional courses relevant to the previous and/or current job.The research course taken is perceived to be the most relevant program curriculum for the graduates of BS Biology.The research course has a mean of 4.06 (SD=1.289).Followed by