Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Arts and Sciences | Vol. 1, No.

1 | March 2014
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Tracer Study of the Masters in Business Administration (MBA) Graduates
from 2008-2012
DR. NORMA L. MENEZ
Graduate School, Lyceum of the Philippines University, Batangas City
PHILIPPINES

Abstract - This study was done in order to find out whether involved in the development of curricula and standards, on-the-
there are also mismatch, underemployment and promotion job-training programs, apprenticeships, faculty immersion,
issues among graduates in Masters in business program of the assessment-based talent development and other activities.
university. More specifically, it determined the employment In a bid to address this growing job mismatch in the
status of the graduate after pursuing MBA program in Lyceum country, CHED, in collaboration with the universities all over
University from 2008 – 2012, which include the university the Philippines mandated to conduct Graduate Tracer Study
customized MBA program. It also determined the school- (GTS) to determine the employability of graduates based on
related and work-related factors that affect the graduate’s their respective disciplines. Through the study, CHED hopes to
employability and promotion and further assess the extent by assess the issues concerning employability and the relevance of
which work values and skills provided by LPU contribute to the higher education programs vis-a-vis expectations of the
graduate’s employability and promotion. Descriptive research employers. It will use the results of the study to monitor the
design was used to trace graduate’s employability and quality of programs offered in the Higher Education
employment status of Master in Business Administration in Institutions (HEIs); provide incentives to institutions; prioritize
Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas. Results or de-prioritize courses; determine the basis for allocating
showed that 96 percent of the Masters in Business scholarships; and investigate whether 21st century skills are
Administration graduates from 2008-2012 are gainfully properly and adequately taught to college students.
employed locally with regular status and are holding It is in this context that this study was done in order to find
professional and managerial positions. The MBA course has out whether there are also mismatch, underemployment and
contributed to the graduate’s professional advancement. promotion issues among graduates in Masters in business
Communication, human and technical skills and the values of program of the university.
Love of God, honesty, love for truth and persevearance and
hardwork are very relevant to their job. The professional II. OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH
subjects, curriculum and instruction gained from LPU –MBA This study aimed to trace the graduates of the Masters in
are likewise found very relevant to their respective work. Business Administration Program from 2008-2012 of Lyceum
of the Philippines. More specifically, the study aimed to
Keywords: Business Administration, Employment, Graduates describe the profile of MBA graduates of their employment
status after earning the Masters in Business Administration
I. INTRODUCTION program from 2008-2012; determine the school-related and
Recognizing the reality in today‟s academic world, the work skills-related factors that affect the graduate‟s
role of higher education institutions can not only be limited to employability and promotion and assess the extent by which
impart knowledge, but also to contribute to maintain a work values and skills provided by LPU contribute to the
competitive economy and most important of all, to secure the graduates employability and promotion.
dream of graduates to get jobs and become socially recognized
and successful in their respective field of endeavors. On the III. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
other hand, one of the major factors for underemployment and Master of Business Administration is a program meant for
the difficulty in finding jobs is the inability of graduates to those students who are preparing themselves with the skills and
meet the necessary skills and competencies required by the competency in the functional area as business and business law,
industry. accounting and finance, marketing and management, strategic
According to the National Statistics Office, the decision making process and other matters pertaning to
unemployment rate in April 2012 is at 6.9 percent or 2.803 business and societal issues. As any graduate education of
million while the underemployment rate is at 19.3 percent unceirtain claimed that graduate school represents the apex of
(7.312 million). In its April 2012 Labor Force Survey, the NSO the entire educational system, a graduate program requires a
revealed that more than half or 51.7 percent of the unemployed great deal of works in acquaring specialized skills to earn the
were in the age group of 15-24. Of this number, 32.8 percent degree Master in Business Administration.
are high school graduates, 13.8 percent are college The graduate educational program of Lyceum of the
undergraduates, and 21.0 percent are college graduates. With Philippines University in Batangas started in 1983. As a
this data on hand, the Commission on Higher Education commitment of the Laurel family to provide Batanguenos
(CHED) has been closely working with industry stakeholders competitive professional, it continuously grow from its regular
to address the job mismatch. Industry representatives are being offering of 2 semesters every year to a Trisemester program

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 Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Arts and Sciences | Vol. 1, No. 1 | March 2014
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which started in 2010. At present, the LPU graduate school
commits to prersure academic excellence in advanced studies
design to develop competent and professional in business,
public education sectors in the service of God and Country. As
a center for advancement of learning, LPU graduate school
endevors to provide leadership, management competence and
professional growth among its graduate as well as enhance
their humanitiic universal values that will make them integral
Filipino leaders and managers of public and private
organization and enterprise.
The program objectives of MBA in Lyceum University in
Batangas aims their graduates to be competent leaders,
manager industry and academic practitioners who posses the
required professional skills in leadership and management of
business enterprice.
Masters in Business Administration program provided by
several universities in Manila also aims to mold globally
competitive, socially responsible leaders of national and
regional businesses. In De la Salle University their program
uses practitioner-oriented approach designed to give students
management education that is in tune with the needs of
companies and the realties of business. Their program aims to
develop capable and socially responsible managers for modern
Philippine entrepreneurs. The University of Santo Tomas
(UST) on the other hand, had an MBA program committed to
intellectual expertise, scholarly research, and spirit of
community involvement. Their business program of UST
envisions to produce managers, updated with their knowledge
and skills in order to gain an understanding of the universal

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 Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Arts and Sciences | Vol. 1, No. 1 | March 2014
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(13) are in a private education settings. In as far as previous believed that their skills acquired is counted as contributory to
tracer study in concerned, there is a remarkable change of their effieciency and effectiveness in performing their new
graduates of 2009 – 2012, as there is none of them who belong task.
to work not related and jobless compared to graduates of 1997
– 2007 which posted 3 undergraduate, 2 self employed and I Relevance of School Related, Work Skills and Work
unemployed, (Garcia & Menez, 2008). Related Values to Graduates Employment
This result is an implication that MBA graduates of Table 5 presents the school related factors and skills
Lyceum University from 2009 – 2012, even in a fast-track or relevant to graduates employability. According to the
Customized Curriculum are employed, there is no issue of respondents, curriculum and instruction (4.5) and professional
mismatch and underemployment. subject (4.2) were very relevant.
Table 4 below presents the job level position of graduates Since curriculum and professional subjects taken were
before and after earning MBA degree, and their reasons for found to be very relevant among MBA graduates, such result is
changing their job. an avenue of continues improvement in gaining and retaining
the graduates. The stiff competition is a perspective for the
Table 4. Job Level Position and Reasons for changing job organization to use this result to prioritize avenues needed by
Job Level before taking MBA F % the graduates.
Rank or Clerical 7 29.7
Professional, Technical or Table 5. School Related relevant to Graduate Employability
15 62.5
Supervisor School Related WM VI Rank
Manager or Executive 2 8.3 Curriculum and Instruction 4.5 VR 1
Self-Employed Professional Subject 4.2 VR 2
Job Level after taking MBA F % Research Subject 3.25 R 3
Rank or Clerical 3 12.5 Community Extension 3.20 R 4
Professional, Technical or Composite Mean 2.93 Relevant
18 75
Supervisor Skills Competencies relevant Frequency
Manager or Executive 3 12.5 to Graduate
Self-Employed Communication skills 17
Reasons for changing Job F % Human relations skills 16
Salaries and benefits 8 33.3 Entrepreneurship skills 5
Career challenge 8 33.3 Information technology skills 6
Related to special skills 6 25 Problem-solving skills 8
Proximity to residence 3 12.5 Critical thinking skills 11

Respondents, before finishing their Master in Business Table 6

Administration posted 15 who belong to professional technical Work Values Contributed to the Job Placement of the Graduate
and supervisor, 7 Rank or Clerical, and 2 Manager or Work-Related Values WM VI Rank
Executive. After finishing their MBA program there is one (1) 1. Love for God 3.4 Much 1
promoted to manager or Executive while 4 from clerical was 2. Honesty and love for truth 3.28 Much 3
promoted to supervisor or professional group. 3. Punctuality 3.02 Much 16
This data is very noteworthy that there is an avenue for 4. Obedience to superior 3.06 Much 14
promotion when earning MBA degree. Through some are not 5. Perseverance and hard work 3.3 Much .2
promoted, it maybe attributed that positions specifically in an 6. Creativity and innovativeness 3.09 Much 11
educational setting depends on the need of the university and 7. Courage 3.03 Much 15
the vacancy of the position fitting qualification of the regular 8. Professional Integrity 3.26 Much 4
member‟s employees. In the case of two (2) respondents who 9. Love for co-workers and others 3.08 Much 12
are in Singapore, they disclosed that Master degree is not a 10. Unity 3.10 Much 10
guarantee of promotion in this country. It is more of their 11. Fairness and Justice 3.25 Much 5
dedication and commitment to their work, for Singapore is a 12. Leadership 3.19 Much 7
country where the Supreme power is in the Ministry of 13. Tolerance 3.17 Much 8
Employment (MOM) regardless of performance or degree but 14. Efficiency 3.07 Much 13
more so of your nationality 15. Supportiveness 3.15 Much 9
As to reasons for changing the job, MBA graduates 16. Nationalism 3.20 Much 6
believed it is due to career challenge, salaries and benefits,
Composite Mean Much
related to their skills, not on proximity to residences. S ch
reasons is an attitude of a more matured individuals who wants In an interview among Masters‟ students, subjects offered
to learn and explore job opportunities as a challenge even parallel with the practical application of the work is what
salary also entails job position. Graduates of Master‟s degree makes their curriculum responsive to their needs. This is a
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 Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Arts and Sciences | Vol. 1, No. 1 | March 2014
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manifestation that the atmosphere of LPU in an Outcomes- It is recommended that the LPU Graduate school may
Based Education (OBE) has been cascaded to the students‟ continuously benchmark with other universities to ensure the
level. competetiveness of its curriculum. The Office of research and
Graduates claimed that though they found Research very linkages may do tie-ups either locally or internationally with
interesting subject, it needs time, devotion and skills to industrial establishments for collaboration and partnerships.
understand it seriously. They admitted to spend only very The Human resource office of private organizations may
limited time and effort to community extension of the review their policies on promotion for a clearer carrear pathing
University due to weekend full-time commitment to their of their employees. Future researchers may do follow study on
subjects and weekdays to their respective jobs. employer‟s assessment of LPU- MBA graduates on their
On the other hand, the skills or competencies found very performance as managers or leaders in their respective field.
useful by MBA graduates in their job are communication and
human relations skills. REFERENCES
Human relations skills acquired by the MBA graduates Barawid, Rachelle C. (September, 2012). Graduate Tracer
maybe rooted from the caring and individualized attention Study seeks to address Job Mismatch, Manila Bulletin,
given by this university to graduate school students. Such Publishing Corporation
includes approachability and accessibility of the graduates to Chung-Khain Wye and Yet-Mee Lim (February, 2009)
various needs to the office of the graduate schools and that of The Perception Differential between Employers and
other office as service providersin the university. These kind of Undergraduates on the Importance of Employability
relationship is emphatic behavior worthy to be emulated and Skills
most of the graduates admit very useful as they effectively and Forrier, A. and Sels, L. (2003). The concept of
efficiently perform their task. employability: a complex mosaic, International Journal
It is very interesting that results on work related values of Human Resources Development and Management,
percieved to be relevant to the graduates focused on Love for Vol. 3 No. 20, pp. 102-24.
God (3.4), perseverance and hard work (3.3) honesty and love Goya, M. K. (2006). University Education and
for truth (3.28). This is an implication that the “Pro deo Et Employment Outcomes: Brand Matters. Monash
Patria” – Veritas et Fortitudo have been embraced by graduate Business Review, 2(3).
level students in Lyceum University. As they hold importance Gunz, H., Evans, M. and Jalland, M. (2000). Career
on those great values to their work, promotion is ahead of Boundaries in a „boundaryless‟ world, in Peiperl, M.,
them. Arthur, M.,
Goffee, R. and Morris, T. (Eds), Career Frontiers: New
VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Conceptions of Working Lives, Oxford University
Most Masters in Business Administration graduates of Press, Oxford.
2008-2012 are gainfully employed locally with regular status Guest, D. (2004), “Flexible employment contracts, the
and are holding professional and managerial positions. The psychological contract and employee outcomes: an
MBA course has contributed to the graduate‟s professional analysis and review of the evidence”, International Journal
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Communication, human amd technical skills and the Hind, P. (2005), “Making room for career change”, Career
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persevearance and hardwork are very relevant to their job. The Jones, D.,(2003) Universities must be more business-friendly” -
professional subjects, curriculum and instruction gained from The Association of Graduate Recruiters Latest News.
LPU –MBA are likewise found very relevant to their respective Van Buren, H.J. III (2003), “Boundaryless careers and
work. employability obligations”, Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol.
13 No. 2, pp. 131-49.

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