www.academia.edu/.../Related_Literature_about_tracer_study_Definition_Importance.

Definition
Importance
Advantages/Disadvantages
Methods
Gathering Procedure
Findings

Related Literature
(about tracer study)

#DEFINITIONS
Tracers study is an approach which widely being used in most organization especially in
the educational institutions to track and to keep record of their students once they have
graduated from the institution. It is the follow up of graduates of higher education or institutes.
Its Aim is to evaluate ones progress up to the time he or she gets a job. This study assesses the
availability and quality of graduates. It is develop to answer the change in industry and corporate
world by integrating the higher education institutions with labor market. There seen as a
management tool for planning and monitoring of training programs. A simple tool designed to
measure the relevance of vocational training. They provide information for grammatical changes
and review of training curricula. It also help to monitor the delivery of training.
This is used when one wants to follow up the development of certain conditions or
particular sets of people. Tracer study is a form of development or longitudinal study.
#IMPORTANCE
It is important its a way of understanding the relevance and quality of programs offered
by the universities as well as the labor market.
It constitute an important tool for educational planners, as they can provide valuable
information for evaluating the results of the higher education and training institutions. This
information may be used for minimizing any possible deficits in a given educational program in
terms of content, delivery and relevance and for further development of the institution in the
context of quality assurance
Tracer study will benefit every institution most especially the DepEd and the schools
because it will help them to know what is the status of their products after graduating to their
institution.
The importance of Tracer study is to measure the relevance of vocational training courses
and documents, the number of trainees finding employment in their trained occupations.
Gathering and documenting feedback from trainee graduates can help improve project
planning, revise, reinforce, interventions, demonstrate results and contributes towards improving
public confidence in vocational training.
Through tracer study, an institution able to evaluate the quality of education given to their
graduates by knowing the graduates placements and positions in the society which later can
used as a benchmark in producing more qualified and competitive graduates.
#ADVANTAGES
The main advantages of tracer study is that it provides complete up-to date information on
for example: the state of the employment of graduates of a teacher education program.
Repeated tracer studies with different groups may lead to discover of trends or effectiveness of
programs and institutions.
Through tracer study, an institution able to evaluate the quality of education given to their
graduates by knowing the graduates placements and positions in the society which later can
used as a benchmark in producing more qualified and competitive graduates
#DISADVANTAGES

The main disadvantages of tracer study are low questionnaire response rate, attrition of
respondents and huge cost of collection of information. A review of the seven tracer studies
quoted in this study. A low response rate from 45-89%. This of course, could be increased at
huge costs to the study. A low response rate means that analysis of the employment status of
the teacher graduates and the teaching context may not necessarily reflect the actual situation.
Also graduates may respond for various reasons, e.g. being frustrated with finding could be a
reason for some not wanting to respond and for some responding in a hope employment.
#METHODS
*Questionnaire Survey
Provided you can reach your ex-trainees by mail, questionnaires are a fairly cost effective
method of data collection. Questionnaires, though, have limitations. They are most appropriate
for collecting quantitative data, e.g. the employment status of your ex-trainee (yes/no answer).
Much will depend on how you have designed your questionnaire. Can the questions be easily
understood? Can someone misinterpret them? (see below: rules for designing questionnaires).
Before your survey, test the questionnaire! Use a sample as an interview guide and afterwards
make the required corrections.
For gathering more in-depth information or verification of survey results we recommend
to carry out additional interview and/or group discussions (see next section).
*Interview and Group Discussions
Questionnaire surveys, as mentioned before, have limitations. The respondent may misunderstand the questions, may not provide all the information you want to get. In-depth
qualitative information can often only be revealed by a personal talk. Interviews and group
discussions with ex-trainees will give you better insights and help you to verify the results of
your questionnaire survey.
Many practitioners are of the opinion that site visits and interview are most effective
method of carrying out a tracer study. They recommend to utilize instructors and/or program
planners for that exercise, in order to allow key staff to experience reality and thus to help
drawing valid conclusions.
By any means, we recommend not to limit a tracer study to questionnaire surveys but to
add interviews and/or group discussions at least as an additional source of information and for
verification of survey results. We suggest to pre-screen questionnaire responses first and then to
select a limited number of ex-trainees (e.g. 25% of the number of questionnaires distributed) for
interviews or group discussions. Make sure, that all possible categories of respondents are
represented, e.g.:
The employed and unemployed,
The wage and self-employed,
Male and female,
Representatives of all trade groups trained at your institution
Different years of graduation
Additionally, you can use interviews to document case studies of your ex-trainees.
#Gathering Procedure
#Findings
What is related literature? A review of articles or books written by authorities giving their
opinions, experiences, theories or ideas of what is good or bad desirable or undesirable within
the problem area.
What is related studies? A review of published and unpublished reports on actual
researches done previously, to know what have been done in the field in relation to your topic to
pursue.
Local Literature: These are local materials usually printed and found in books professional
journals and magazines, newspapers and university publications published by the different
colleges and universities in the Philippines

Foreign Literature: These are materials printed in other countries with information related
to the current study and are found in books, professionals journals, magazines and other
publications.
Local Studies: These are studies or investigations already completed to which the present
study isrealated. They are usually unpublished materials such as manuscripts, these
dissertations conducted in the Philippines other research publications.
Foreign Studies: These are manuscripts, theses researches and dissertations conducted in
other countries.
SOURCE:
E,Gane
A TRACER STUDY ON THE GRADUATES OF COLLEGE OF ARTS AND
SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHEASTERN PHILIPPINES
FROM SCHOOL YEAR 2008- 2009 to 2012-2013 https://prezi.com/nygplysasn3n/a-tracer-study-onthe-graduates-of-college-of-arts-and/
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
1. determine whether or not the graduates current specific work functions are related to their
field of study;
2. determine the employment/unemployment rate of Use-CAS graduates;
3. determine the length of waiting time before the graduate gets employed;
4. discover the reasons of the graduate for staying/changing job;
5. demonstrate success of education and training relating to the graduates and employment;
and,
6. indicate possible deficit in a given educational program that would serve as basis for future
planning activities.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1. What is the response rate of the graduates from academic year 2008-2009 to 2012-2013 as
classified to their courses and year graduated?
2. What post baccalaureate activities did Use-CAS graduates engage to when classified according
to their course and school year graduated in terms of graduates studies and additional degree
studies/training program?
3. What are the employment characteristics of the Use-CAS graduates as classified according to
their course and school year graduated in terms of:
3.1. employment status;
3.2. first job after college;
3.3. reason(s) of changing or staying on the job;
3.4. first job related to their course;
3.5. tools in finding first job;
3.6. length of job search;
3.7. present position; and,
3.8. nature of job/business?
4. At what level do the graduates agree in the overall experience at the University of
Southeastern Philippines, particularly at the College of Arts and Sciences?
5. To what extent do graduates feel that they have gained success as result of USeP-CAS
education?
6. Is there a significant difference in the employability rate among the BS Statistics, BS
Mathematics, BS Biology, AB English Language, and AB Literature graduates of USeP-CAS?
7. What are the suggestions and recommendations of USeP-CAS graduates about the changes
needed to improve the competitive edge of their program in the field of training?
NULL HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY

HO: There is no significant difference in the employability rate among CAS graduates in the five
programs.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
To the Alumni Director.
The study would provide the Office of USeP-Alumni an idea of how the graduates perform after
graduation and would assist the office to determine the graduates employability readiness.
To the USeP-CAS Administrative Officials.
The study may serve as basis for initiating and implementing improvement plans to the
universitys academic curriculum, as it would provide information about the graduates chosen
career.
To the Faculty.
The study would help the faculty members in sustaining the standards of the college and its
programs by continuously inventing strategies that would develop and ready the students in the
post-academic world whereby equipping the graduates to be competitive globally.
To the Students.
The study would inform the students to choose best course that suit their future career.
To the Future Researchers.
This study would serve as reference to the researcher for their future studies.
SCOPE AND DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY
Undergraduate Courses
Bachelor
Bachelor
Bachelor
Bachelor
Bachelor

of
of
of
of
of

Science in Statistics
Science in Mathematics
Science in Biology
Arts in English (Language)
Arts in Literature

Graduate Courses
Master of Science in Applied Mathematics
Master of Science in Biology
Master of English in Applied Linguistics
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Alumni
refer to CAS graduates who graduated from school year 2009 to 2013.
Institution
refers to the University of Southeastern Philippines.
Government Firm
refers to the nature of industry which is relating to the group of people who control and make
decision for a country.
Private Firm
is a company whose ownership is private.

RELATED STUDIES
SOURCE OF DATA
SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
This study used snowball sampling procedure in whichthe graduates were tracked down through
referral from faculty members, friends and family of respondents, Yearbook information,
Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr accounts and other social networking.
RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
To attain the purpose of this study, the researcher adapted a survey questionnaire constructed
by Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and modified by Batangas State University (BSU)
which was used in a similar study. The questionnaire was customized by the researcher in which
some unnecessary questions were deleted to fit the purpose of this study.
DATA GATHERING PROCEDURE
The researcher asked permission to conduct the study. A letter of permission was given to Dr.
Eveyth P. Deligero, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences. After the approval, the researcher sent a
letter to the Registrars Office for the master list of all graduates from school year 2008-2009 to
2012-2013. Upon the approval of the CAS-Dean, the survey questionnaires were distributed
through personal appearance, sending through email address and social networking sites with
letter to inform the graduates about the purpose of the study, and asking their cooperation. In
addition, for more responses the researcher created an online survey questionnaire through
GOOGLE DRIVE application for ease of answering the questionnaire.
STATISTICAL TREATMENT
Descriptive method was used to describe the profile of CAS-USeP graduates. Descriptive
statistics such as frequency and percentage were used in determining the response rate, post
baccalaureate activities and employment characteristics of the graduates. Mean was used also to
describe the level of agreement in the assessment of the study of graduates.Chi-square was
used to test if there is a significant difference in the proportion of employment status among BS
in Statistics, BS in Mathematics, BS in Biology, AB English, and AB Literature graduates in CAS.
CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
SUMMARY
This study determined the response rate and the educational attainment of the graduates of
College and Arts and Sciences from the school year 2008-2013. It established the profile of the
employment characteristics of the graduates in terms of employment status, first job after
college, first job related to the course, tools in finding first job, length of job search, present
position, nature of job/business and the reason of changing/staying in their job.
The descriptive method of research such as frequency, percentage, and mean was used in the
study. Chi-squared was used also to test if there is significant difference in employability status of
the graduates. Snowball sampling procedure was employed in selecting the respondents of the
study.
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
1. There were 989 graduates for the school year 2008-2009 to 2012-2013 and 128 responded to
the survey which constitutes 12.94 percent of the entire population. Moreover, four (4) out of 128
of the respondents were Masteral graduates.
2. Among the 124 graduates in the school year 2008-2013, 17.74 percent or 22 respondents took
the graduate studies and additional degree.

3. Majority or 83.06 percent of the sampled respondents are employed.

4. Roughly fifty percent or 50.49 percent of the employed samples are regular or permanent.
5. Most of the graduates agreed that their first job was related to their course.
6. Most of the reasons why graduate changed or stayed in the job are the benefits and salaries,
career challenge and related to special skills.
7. Most of the graduates acquired jobs relevant to the curriculum.
8. Among the 103 of employed graduates, 72 or 69.9 percent of respondents claimed that the
job they had was the first one after college.
9. Recommendation by someone, walk-in applications and job fair are the common tools that
graduates considered most helpful in finding jobs.
10. Majority (94 out of 111) of the respondents were employed in less than 6 months after the
graduation.
11. Most of the graduates employed are handling rank and file position.
12. Most of the graduates agreed to the assessment of study condition regarding the overall
experience at USeP-CAS.
13. Majority of the graduates very much feel that they gained success as a result of USeP
education.
14. There is no significant difference in the employability status among BS Mathematics, BS
Statistics, BS Biology, AB English (Language), and AB Literature graduates in CAS.
15. Employing only of competent faculty and continuously training them, updating and improving
the curriculum and syllabus were the common recommendation and suggestion of the graduates.
CONCLUSION
Majority of the graduates of USeP-CAS responded to the questionnaires are now employed as
regular. Further, having job fair in schools after or before graduation in college helped the
prospect graduates to find employment.Employing only competent faculty members, updating
and reviewing the curriculum and syllabus, and upgrading the facilities are the top three items
suggested and recommended by the graduates to enhance their competence and edge in the
courses they have taken.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Regulate more tracer studies on each department of CAS graduates to gather useful feedback
from the alumni for the improvement of the institutions.
2. The department as well as alumni office should create an online group in some online social
networking website such as FACEBOOK to trace the graduates and to serve as storage of data for
future researcher.
3. Future researchers should also explore the competencies learned in college that led to finding
most useful jobs after graduation.
PRESENTED BY:
ROY A. ANAYOC

Culture of Entrepreneurship versus Employment

Melanie Banzuela-de Ocampo, PhD

April Joan S. Bagano, MBE
Ana Liza R. Tan, MBA

Abstract

This paper is part of the results of a larger graduate tracer study done
for a large university. It looks into the culture of entrepreneurship versus
employment among recent graduates of the business school of a large
university based in the Philippines. Students who chose to take an
entrepreneurial education undergo a two-semester business practicum
program entailing preparation of a business plan and actual implementation
of a start-up enterprise. Students who go through this baccalaureate degree
are envisioned to become entrepreneurs when they graduate. The study
reveals that one out of four of the graduates who took up entrepreneurial
education became entrepreneurs after graduation. Many still opted for
employment. It appears from this initial study that the culture of
entrepreneurship particularly youth entrepreneurship still needs to take root
in the young peoples mindset. Filipino youth continue to have a strong
cultural preference for secure jobs and the employment route.

Keywords:
Culture of Entrepreneurship,
Graduate Tracer Study, Employment

Entrepreneurial

Education,

Introduction

In an increasingly globalized world, there is a growing pressure for fresh graduates to

compete for jobs which are not growing at the same pace with the growth in population of
young people seeking gainful employment. According to the International Labor Organization
Youth Employment Networks (YEN), young people are actively seeking to participate in the world
of work and are two to three times more likely than the older generations to find themselves
unemployed (ILO, 2006). Young people are defined by the UN as individuals between the age of
15 to 24 years, and adults as individuals of age 25 and over. According to UN statistics, there
are over 1 billion young people in 2000, which translates to one in every five who could be
classified in this category. Thus, young people accounts for 20% of the total world population,
85 per cent are living in developing countries, of which 60 percent are located in Asia. In the UN
Report of 2005, it was estimated that about 100 million of these youths are enrolled in
university-level education. However and despite the fact that young people appear to be
receiving more and better education, youth unemployment has increased steadily since 1993.
This situation is worsening with YEN projecting about 1 billion people entering or becoming of
working age within the next decade (ILO, 2006).
The Philippines as a developing country faces this same challenges having been beset for
decades with structurally high unemployment and underemployment rates. High population and
labor force growth continues to outpace formal job creation. The Philippine education system
churns out more and more college graduates with various professional disciplines such as
commerce, engineering, health, sciences and law to name a few. But the jobs are not really
created as fast as the universities handing out of the college diploma.

The unemployment rate in Philippines was last reported at 7.00 percent in July of 2012,
21% of which are college graduates. Historically, from 1995 until 2012, Philippines
unemployment rate averaged 9.0 percent reaching an all time high of 13.9 percent in April of
2002 and a record low of 6.3 percent in October of 2007. The unemployment rate can be defined
as the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labor force (BLES,
September 2012).

Education has long been regarded as one of the primary components for poverty reduction
and socio-economic upliftment. Tertiary education particularly is tasked to train the nations
manpower in the skills required for national development, and to instill and foster the
appropriate and relevant, knowledge, skills, and attitudes to enable each individual to become a
useful, productive and gainfully employed member of society. Investments in education would be

considered wasted if people do not move into productive jobs that enable them to pay taxes
and support public services.

Higher educational institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines particularly the private education
sector has historically provided a dominant role in the delivery of educational services to the
countrys citizenry. The private education sector has contributed immensely in producing the
countrys highly qualified manpower, estimated to be more than 80 percent of all those who
have joined the work force.

The image of a tertiary education institution in the Philippines is most likely tied to its
reputation of producing excellent graduates who easily land a job after graduation. Graduate
Tracer Studies are common research methods for these educational institutions to check on the
employability of their recent graduates.

Of late, the Commission of the Higher Education (CHED), the policy making body of
Philippine higher education which reports directly to the Office of the President has supported
and pushed for the offering of entrepreneurship education as an alternative to a college degree
leading to employment. Entrepreneurship education is seen as a way for graduates to become
employers themselves instead of mere employees.
Entrepreneurship education was
envisioned to equip the graduates with the requisite personal entrepreneurial competencies in
the hope that upon graduation the graduates will open up their own businesses and be selfemployed. But the road to the delivery of entrepreneurship education by HEIs has been fraught
with many challenges and even competing ideologies and pedagogies. Its effectiveness in
producing entrepreneurs remains to be empirically proven and felt in the coming years.

This paper presents the relevant results of the a larger study that traced the graduates
who took up an entrepreneurial education and those who took other business related courses to
check if entrepreneurial education mattered in the actual careers that they pursued. It attempts
to discover if the preferred route and hence embedded culture of employment among Filipino
fresh graduates still prevails despite taking entrepreneurial education.

Literature Review

The researcher undertook the literature review along two body of knowledge,
one on entrepreneurship and culture and the other on entrepreneurial education

Entrepreneurship and Culture

The relationship of culture and entrepreneurship generally began with the work of Max
Weber and his writings on religion and its impact on business association and entrepreneurship
(Ondracek, Bertsch and Saeed, 2011). Weber observed that trust between businessmen was
enhanced once the parties learned of each others particular religion. Weber theorized that
capitalism and its agent, the entrepreneur, was the result of the Protestant Reformation and the
belief system of particular Protestant sects, especially the Calvinists. Casually ascertaining a
businessmans religious affiliation was to done more to determine if the person was trustworthy
and therefore could be said to share similar values.

The theoretical work of Joseph Schumpeter in 1961, on the other hand, sets culture as a
determinant of entrepreneurship. He posits that the supply of entrepreneurs depends on the
rate of profits and the social climate, a complex phenomenon reflecting the whole social,
political, socio-psychological atmosphere within which entrepreneurs operate. According to
Schumpeter, the entrepreneur among other things is a social deviant. This can best be seen in
the relatively small but highly successful entrepreneurial group of deviant class such as the
Chinese in Southeast Asia, Hindus in East Bengal and the Jews in Libya and most parts of Europe.

Although culture has not received adequate attention in the discipline of entrepreneurship
education, two basic positions developed.
One posed that culture is a precursor to
entrepreneurship, the other discounted the effect of culture altogether. Culture as a determinant
of entrepreneurship underwent a long sleep not until the phenomenal work of Hofstede on
international differences in work-related values came out in 1980. Hofstede named four cultural
dimensions; individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance and power
distance. Later work by Hofstede and Bond in 1988 added a fifth dimension, Confucian
orientation (linked with hard work, perseverance and learning new skills) which was later
renamed long-term orientation. Hofstede and Bond (1988) posited that cultural values promoting
success exist in regions without Protestant beliefs and that such beliefs are held more strongly by
some groups rather than others.

One psychologist by the name of David McClelland built more into the link between
economic development and entrepreneurship which grew from his work on motivation.
McClelland theorized that humans are motivated by the Need for Achievement, the Need for
Power, and the Need for Affiliation. It is the Need for Achievement though which is most critical
for entrepreneurship and economic development. He understood that capital accumulation,
population changes, division of labor and entrepreneurship were the drivers of economic
growth.

Could it therefore be posed somehow that particular values and therefore cultures
promote better rates of entrepreneurship? Khanser (2007) in her business biography on the
entrepreneurial story life of famous Philippine business tycoon John L. Gokongwei, Jr. believes
that one way to grow the entrepreneurial culture in the Philippines is to provide role models of
successful entrepreneurs. She believes that an entrepreneurial mindset and an entrepreneurial
culture can be developed and nurtured in the Philippines. George and Zahara (2000) undertook

a review of this inquiry particularly asking the question how does national culture relate to
levels of entrepreneurial activity? Three streams of research were identified. These are 1) the
impact of national culture on the aggregate measures of entrepreneurship such as national
innovative output or new business created; 2) the association between national culture and the
characteristics of individual entrepreneurs including the values, beliefs, motivations, and
cognitions of entrepreneurs across cultures; 3) the impact of national culture on corporate
entrepreneurship. The findings suggest that national culture is captured in different forms in
behavioural research and culture in various forms is depicted as a moderator of the relationship
between contextual factors and entrepreneurial outcomes. The moderating role of culture
highlights that national cultures act as a catalyst rather than a causative agent of
entrepreneurial outcomes. Although some studies find significant relationships between national
culture and entrepreneurial outcomes, Hayton, George and Zaharas (2000) model suggests that
cultural characteristics transform and complement the institutional and economic contexts to
influence entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurial Education

Even though there is still an ongoing argument on whether entrepreneurs are born or bred
(Dana, 2001), there are some researchers who agree on the important contribution of
entrepreneurial education to young people. A study by Abarquez (2011) attempted to integrate
entrepreneurial competencies in basic education in the Philippines with the goal of promoting
entrepreneurial culture among young people. Entrepreneurial attributes can be positively
influenced by educational programmes (Gorman and Hanlon, 1997). In fact in Malaysia, the
government in 2006 announced plans to make entrepreneurship courses compulsory for all
public university students in the hope of fostering 5 percent entrepreneurs from among the
graduates (Harian, 2006).

Entrepreneurship education can be significant in many ways. It can for one provide
students an understanding of business. Many studies have noted that an entrepreneurship
course has a positive impact on the students views of entrepreneurship. It was argued that
entrepreneurship graduates have stronger entrepreneurial intentions than other business
graduates (Kolvereid and Moen, 1997). In addition, student exposed to entrepreneurship
education have more favourable views of small businesses (Mohan-Neill, 2001). Research seems
to suggest that individuals attending entrepreneurship courses have a higher tendency to start
their own businesses at some point in their career than those attending other courses (Carter
and Collinson, 1999; Galloway and Brown, 2002).

A group of researchers in the USA, on the other hand, believed that even if one cannot
teach someone to be an entrepreneur, we can still teach entrepreneurial skills needed to be
successful (Henderson and Robertson, 2000).
Traditionally, it has been thought that
entrepreneurship education is about teaching students how to start a business, create a business
plan, and bring their goods and services successfully to market. More recently, however, it has
been recognized that such skills are essential but not sufficient to make a successful

entrepreneur (Rae, 1997). A successful entrepreneur must possess a set of generic attributes,
skills and behaviours like creativity, problem solving skills, and communication that are equally
important in life as well as in business.

Despite the seemingly encouraging views on the contribution of an entrepreneurial

education to actual business start-ups, different researches, however, emphasize the difficulties
of evaluating the benefit or the importance of teaching entrepreneurship. Cox, et.al (2002) even
writes that much of the entrepreneurship research to date has not provided substantial empirical
support for the claim that completion of formal courses in entrepreneurship and small business
management increases the likelihood that an individual will start a business. On the same
thought, Matlay (2005) also adds that the actual contribution that such courses have on
entrepreneurial activity remains unclear.

The problems associated with evaluating the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education

are in some way connected with time, more specifically, the time delay from the end of an
entrepreneurship education until a possible start of a business (Cox, et.al 2002). The time delay
can be long, and in such cases, it becomes difficult to determine exactly why an individual has
established a new firm.

A longitudinal research conducted by Matlay (2008) investigated the perceived influence

that various entrepreneurial courses have on a cohort of 64 graduate entrepreneurs from eight
HEIs in the UK. Data gathering were conducted annually over a ten year period (1997 to 2006)
to document, measure and analyse respondent progression from graduation and into
entrepreneurship. Results indicate that entrepreneurship education had a positive impact upon
entrepreneurial outcomes related to the career aspirations of the 64 graduates in the research
sample. For a large proportion of the sample, there was a relatively speedy progression from
self-employed status to micro and small business ownership. Apart from the progression through
entrepreneurial stages, these graduate entrepreneurs showed a remarkably low rate of
turbulence and no failures.

Another study by Matlay, Cindy Milllman and Fan Liu (2008) used case study approach to
provide an in-depth analysis of the challenges and outcomes of the Know About Your Business
(KAB) Programme initiated by the International Labour Organization and piloted at the China
Youth University for Political Science in Beijing. The results of the study showed that the
programme proved largely successful with students providing feedback which could be used to
further improve and develop entrepreneurship education with a view to implement it more widely
in selective business schools across China.

In Malaysia, a study was conducted to evaluate an optional entrepreneurship module

offered during the last semester of a Masters Degree in Project Management by the School of
Housing Building and Planning Universiti Sains Malaysia. The importance of entrepreneurship
education in Malaysia particularly in the construction industry was felt as a high number of small

and medium scale firms were being started by new entrepreneurs. At the end of the course,
majority of them showed interest in becoming entrepreneurs (Jaafar and Aziz, 2008).

Another study was conducted in which a complete survey of enterprise education in all
higher educational institutions in England, undertaken in 2010 by the Institute for Small
Business And Entrepreneurship (ISBE) on behalf of the National Council for Graduate
Entrepreneurship (NCGE). The results highlighted the connections in institutional strategies
between enterprise education, incubation/new venture support, graduate employability,
innovation and academic enterprise (Rae, Martin, Antcliff, and Hannon, 2012).

Lastly, a study was conducted in Sweden to answer the research question: Does
entrepreneurship education lead to establishment of new firms. The study showed that
individuals who have attended an entrepreneurship education were more prone to establish
firms, to establish several firms, and to create larger firms, as compared to those who have not
attended the entrepreneurship course (Control Group). From that point of view, it appears that
entrepreneurship education matters (Nilsson, 2012).

Methodology

The research upon which this paper is based forms part of a larger Graduate Tracer
Study (GTS) of the business school of a large university based in the Philippines. An official list
of graduates of the department was secured consisting of recent graduates from October 2009,
March 2010, October 2010 and March 2011. Tracing of the graduates was conducted in the
summer of 2012 (April-May 2012). A previous GTS questionnaire provided by the CHED was
revised to incorporate questions to trace graduates who have actually opened up new
businesses.

The questionnaire consisted of questions for the employed, not employed and never
employed and those who opted for self-employment. The questionnaire consisted of 47 mostly
close-ended questions covering seven pages.

Of the 342 list of graduates, a total of 272 graduates were successful traced as follows:
October 2009 (55), March 2010 (82), October 2010 (50), March 2011 (85). This represents an
80% retrieval rate.

Results and Discussions

Of the 272 graduates that have been traced, 80 percent (219) were employed at the
time of the survey, 41 percent (111) of them finished an entrepreneurship education. The rest
(59%) finished a business but non-entrepreneurial course. Strangely, most of the 20% (43) of
respondents who were either unemployed at the time of the survey or were never employed
yet indicated that they did not yet look for a job either as a personal choice or due to family
concerns. Only six (6) out of the 53 graduates indicated no job opportunity as reason for their
unemployment while 13 of them are pursuing further study. It appears that graduates of this
university had the economic means or still had the financial support of their parents even
beyond graduation. Of the March 2011 not employed and never employed graduates, a
significant number came from graduates finishing a non-entrepreneurial education, particularly
the course specializing in human resource development management. There are slightly more
female graduates (33) who were either not employed or never employed compared to male
graduates (20). A few of the not employed and never employed even graduated with
academic awards.

When asked for reasons why they have stayed on their jobs, most employed graduates
indicated salaries and benefits, career challenge and related to course. Similar reasons were
provided when employed graduates were asked for reasons for accepting their jobs and
changing jobs with salaries and benefits becoming a more prominent reason (43%).

Some of the employed graduates (32%) stayed on their first job for 1-6 months only,
25% stayed 1 year to less than 2 years, 18% stayed 7 to 11 months. The results indicate that
graduates tend to stay for a relatively short span of time on their first jobs.
The most popular method of searching for their first job were recommendation by
someone (29%), followed by information from friends and as walk-in applicant, both at 18%
respectively. Job fairs and the school job placement office were deemed not effective with only
8% and 3% using these methods respectively.

Employed graduates were likewise asked what their job level position was on their first
job. More than half (56%) occupied clerical or rank and file position, 36% supervisory or
technical level and only 10% held managerial position. For graduates who have changed jobs,
46% still occupied clerical positions, a slightly higher percentage of 41% now hold supervisory
positions and 14% gained managerial responsibilities.

Employed graduates were next asked what their initial gross monthly earning was on
their first job. Of the male graduates, some of them (39%) earned PhP10,000 to less
PhP15,000, 33% earned PhP5,000 to less than PhP10,000, 13% earned PhP15,000 to less than
PhP20,000. Only a few (5%) earned less than PhP5,000, while only 3% and 7% earned
PhP20,000 to less than 25,000 and PhP25,000 and above, respectively. Of the female
graduates, close to half (41%) earned PhP5,000 to less than PhP10,000, 39% earned
PhP10,000 to PhP15,000, 7.5% earned PhP15,000 to PhP20,000, 6% earned PhP20,000 to less
than PhP25,000, 5% earned less than PhP5,000, and only 2% earned above PhP25,000. The

results indicate that male graduates have greater chances of earning higher initial salary than
female graduates.

The tracer study also delved into graduates waiting time before landing their first job.
Close to half (44%) waited only for less than one month, and the other half (41%) waited for 1
month to 6 months, very few had to wait for 7-11 months (7%), 1 to less than 2 years (6%)
and 2 years to less than 3 years (1%). These numbers indicate that the business school of this
university as with previous GTS results conducted in 2007 and 2008 (De Ocampo, 2009)
continue to enjoy high employability of recent graduates. Almost all who were employed (total
44% + 41% = 85%) waited no more than 6 months before landing their first job.

The most useful competencies learned in the university were communication skills,
human relations skills, critical thinking skills, entrepreneurial skills, and problem solving skills.
As previously mentioned of the 272 graduates traced, 111 (41%) finished an
entrepreneurial education. Of the 111, only 26 (23%) became self-employed. Self employed
meant either they started their own business and/or helping their existing family business. In
this study we shall call them entrepreneurs. There were 4 (1%) traced graduates, however,
who did not finish an entrepreneurship education but still opted for self-employment.

Most (37%) of the entrepreneurs, started their business less than one year after
graduation, 30% one year to less than two years, 10% two years to less than three years, and
23% three years and above (this probably refers to the entrepreneurs who are helping their
existing family business). A little over half (53%) are not self-started business, while the
remaining 46% are self-started ones. For majority of them (64%), the business is the first
venture that they have started, 28% started one to two ventures prior to the existing one, and
two of them even started three to more than five ventures before making it work.

When asked for the reasons why they started their business, approximately 1 in every 4
(25%) said they saw a business opportunity, 23% were provided seed capital by their parents,
19% had to continue their family business, 11% said that having a business has always been
their passion, another 11% were encouraged by their entrepreneurial education, 6% continued
the business that they started in college, and only 4% were approached by a business partner.

Gathering data with regards to the scale of their business proved to be more
challenging as most did not want to reveal financial information. Majority (64%) are
considered micro enterprises with asset size of up to PhP3MM, employing 1 to 9 workers
(61%), very few are considered small (4%), medium (1%) and large enterprises (4%),
employing 10-99 employees (25%), 100-199 employees (11%), and 200 and above employees
(1%). Data gathered in terms of annual turn-over proved to be unreliable with most
respondents refusing to disclose real amounts.

Graduates of the entrepreneurial education find the following personal entrepreneurial

competencies to be the most useful in order of importance; opportunity seeking (82%), goalsetting (78%), systematic planning and monitoring (68%), risk taking (64%), and selfconfidence (57%). With regards to generic competencies, they found the following most useful
also in order of importance; communication skills (82%), entrepreneurial skills (75%), human
relations skills (61%), problem solving skills (43%), and critical thinking skills (43%).

It appears from the results that graduates of this Philippine-based business school who
took up an entrepreneurial education were more likely to take up self-employment, therefore
the entrepreneurial option as opposed to those who took non-entrepreneurial but still business
courses.

Conclusion

On the basis of the findings emerging from this study it could be concluded that
entrepreneurship education, although still minimal, contributes to the young graduates
predisposition towards entrepreneurial careers. Most young people still prefer the security of
tenure in a job through the employment route, at least shortly after graduation. Based on the
findings, it appears that the culture of entrepreneurship still needs to take root in the mindset
of the Filipino youth.

Recommendations

Given the limited timeframe for this tracer study, a more longitudinal scope could be
undertaken to take into consideration the time delay from end of entrepreneurial education to
possible business start up similar to the study done by Matlay (2008) covering a ten-year
period. A review of the existing entrepreneurial education in terms of paradigm, structure and
pedagogy may be done to improve the conversion rate from entrepreneurial education to
youth entrepreneurship in the Philippines. Benchmarking could be undertaken to learn from
the best practices of other HEIs entrepreneurship curricula and entrepreneurial programmes
and centers which promote youth entrepreneurship such as ILOs KAB programme and the
Kauffman Foundation.

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Acknowledgment

This paper has been accepted for presentation in the 2012 5th Taiwan-Philippines
Academic Conference: Digital Humanities and Cultural Studies to be held at Aletheia University,
New Taipei City, Taiwan on October 20, 2012. The author would like to express her sincerest
appreciation to Aletheia University particularly to Dr. Hung Hwei Liu for the opportunity.
Sincerest gratitude also is extended to the University of San Carlos for supporting the trip to
Taiwan.