Gender-Based Tracking of Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management Graduates at Mariano Marcos State University, City of Batac, Philippines

Gender-Based Tracking of Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management Graduates at Mariano Marcos State University, City of Batac, Philippines

Quincy S. Savellano, Princess B. Muñoz

Mariano Marcos State University, City of Batac, Ilocos Norte

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.803202S

Received: 19 July 2024; Accepted: 31 July 2024; Published: 21 August 2024

ABSTRACT

The study discusses the profile, educational experiences, employment status, and employment data of the BS Tourism Management graduates from the College of Business, Economics, and Accountancy at Mariano Marcos State University, City of Batac, Ilocos Norte, from SY 2013-2014 to SY 2017-2018, using gender-based analysis. The study examined the profiles of 135 BSTM graduates, representing 30.34% of the total BS Tourism Management graduates, in terms of general information, educational experience, and employment data. Employing a descriptive research design and adapting the CHED-Graduate Tracer Study survey questionnaire, primary data were gathered through structured online surveys. Data were analyzed using basic descriptive statistical treatments such as percentages and frequency. The findings revealed that the majority of respondents are female. In terms of sex analysis, the majority of males and females are single and heterosexual, and they live in Ilocos Norte, Region I municipalities. They pursued a BSTM degree, with the majority receiving no honors, awards, or scholarships, but valued interpersonal relations abilities as well as computing and customer service skills. With these abilities gained at university, the majority of respondents were first employed as permanent employees in local private agencies relevant to their study, where they were paid between 5,001 and 15,000 pesos per month. They discovered the job in less than a month and took it mostly because of the career challenge. However, because of salaries and benefits, more than half of the total respondents eventually shifted to employment unrelated to the course. This shows the importance of compensation for job satisfaction in the tourism industry, which has also been shown in several studies. This study also found gender differences. In terms of reasons for taking the BSTM course, male respondents said it was for the possibility of career advancement, while female respondents said it was because they had a strong passion for the profession. When it comes to how they got their first jobs, males were recommended by someone, while females got them through walk-in applications. Finally, male respondents accepted the first job due to salary and benefit expectations, whereas female respondents accepted the position due to a career challenge. Recommendations of the study include training and workshop related to the professional skills in the industry, curriculum enhancement, strengthening internship programs, ensure having similar opportunities across all genders, and constant review of the program.

Keywords: BS Tourism Management, gender-based analysis, educational experiences, employment data

INTRODUCTION

The value of a country is ultimately determined by its citizens. Education has a vital influence in molding a person’s personality, just as it does in establishing a nation’s standing. Moreover, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) continue to play a vital part in graduates’ lives even after they graduate. They need to give careful consideration as to how graduates view their experiences they underwent during their degree study and their transition to the job market. They have to look into these and analyze for them to assess their effectiveness.

The ASEAN Post Team (2019) reported that the Philippines fell from 45th to 55th place in the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness World Talent Ranking 2018 (from 45th in 2017 to 55th in 2018). The ranking was determined by a combination of three variables – investment and development, appeal, and readiness. In the last criteria, readiness, the Philippines dropped from 11th to 37th place. The quality of the country’s work force was assessed in terms of their skills and abilities. The findings indicated a degradation in the Philippine educational system, resulting in a mismatch between school curricula and business expectations. Aside from job mismatches, the Philippines has unemployment and underemployment issues. According to an OECD survey from 2016, “the educated unemployed”, or those with a higher education level, accounted for 35% of the unemployed population. Companies stated that a lack of relevant skills was the primary cause for having to fill vacancies. According to the study, a substantial proportion of individuals who are employed are underemployed or working fewer than 40 hours per week.

In keeping with these alarming statistics, the employability of the university’s and college’s graduates must be analyzed in order to determine the university’s and college’s performance in achieving the mission. A recent study (Patimo, et al., 2019) found that the skills needed in the tourism industry, as well as how public institutions might help supply the workforce, have not been sufficiently addressed, resulting in widespread job mismatch, underemployment, and unemployment across the country. As a result, the Commission on Higher Education, as the apex of the Philippine higher education system, has placed a premium on enhancing the quality and efficiency of educational services, particularly in terms of preparing graduates for employment.

As a result, a gender-based analysis of the employability and skills of graduates, specifically in CBEA, was conducted. This was anchored with the Commission of Higher Education – Graduate Tracer Study (CHED-GTS), an extremely effective approach for assessing the whereabouts and performance of graduates in the workplace (Cuadra, Aure and Gonzaga, 2022). Through the CHED-GTS, the graduates’ profile, their educational experiences, and employment data were described to elicit recommendations to improve the degree program or curriculum. The gender role-oriented follow-up questions were adopted into the CHED-GTS survey questionnaire and utilized as a research tool to analyze the disparities that exist between and among males and female respondents.

Objective of the Study

The main objective of the study is to track the BS in Tourism Management graduates at the College of Business, Economics and Accountancy from SY 2013-2014 to SY 2017-2018 to describe the profile of the BS in Tourism Management graduates in the context of gender relations.

Specifically, the study is designed to

1. describe the profile of the BSTM graduates in terms of sex, civil status, region of origin, province, and location of residence
2. determine the educational experiences of BS in Tourism Management graduates in terms of year graduated, honor(s)or award(s) received, scholarship, professional skills, and reason(s) for taking the course or pursuing the degree.
3. determine and describe the employment data of BS in Tourism Management graduates in terms of employed, employment status, occupation, agency, place of work, line of business, first job after college, first job is related to the course, finding the first job, reason for accepting the job, how long it takes to land a job, and gross monthly earning.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The study used a descriptive research method, which entails observing and describing a subject’s behavior without influencing it in any way. This study used descriptive research because it would aid in describing the profile of BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) graduates in terms of their general information, educational experience, employment data, and training or advanced studies attended after college using the gender-based analysis.

Population and Sample of the Study

The study’s goal is to collect quantitative data on BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) graduates. Table 1 shows the actual respondents (135 graduates) who were drawn at random from a pool of 445 BSTM graduates from the academic years 2013-2014 to 2017-2018. This falls within the expected response rate for graduate tracer studies, which is between 30 and 60%. (Schomburg, 2003).

Table 1. Population of the Study (BS in Tourism Management Graduates from the  Academic Years 2013-2014 to 2017-2018)

Instrumentation

The study adapted the CHED-Graduate Tracer Study survey questionnaire and it was used to collect primary data of the graduates. The questionnaire was distributed via Google forms to those who work outside of the province and country by the researchers. Online platforms such as social media were also used to contact graduates.

The frequency as a statistical tool was used in this study to determine the profile of BS in Tourism Management graduates from the College of Business, Economics, and Accountancy across genders, as well as general information, educational experience, and employment data.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

General Information Profile of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates

Table 2. Profile of the BSTM Graduates from the  Academic Years 2013-2014 to 2017-2018 (Sex)

The BSTM graduates’ general information profile discusses the sex, civil status, region of origin and province.

The study discovered that 80% of the 135 respondents are female and 20% male (see Table 2). Moreover, from SY 2013-2014 to SY 2017-2018, the number of female respondents was consistently higher than the number of male respondents. Grothaus’ (2021) article backs up the findings, who stated that women account for nearly 60% of college students, a record high. The findings is also similar to the findings in other tourism graduate tracer studies (Patimo, et al., 2021; Cueto, 2016; Menicucci et al., 2019; Buama, 2017). As to gender preference, the majority of the respondents were heterosexual.

Table 3. Profile of the BSTM Graduates (Civil Status)

Table 3.a. Civil Status of the Respondents based on Gender Preference

In terms of civil status, the study found out that the majority of male and female responses (88.9%) are single while the remaining percentage of respondents are married. According to follow-up interviews most the respondents stay single because they are career-driven and prefer to focus on building a life and career before entering a marriage relationship. Moreover, some stated that instead of being tied down to one person, they want the freedom to explore relationships in order to have more serious and long-term ones. A significant number of respondents mentioned that marrying later in life allows them to travel, party late, and take financial risks.

Based on the sex-disaggregated data in Table 3 and gender-based data in Table 3.a, 88.9% of male respondents are still single, while only 11.1% are married. According to McLaurin (2021), younger male generations are more likely than older generations to rank “focus on my work” as important. Like male respondents, 88.9% of female respondents are unmarried, while 10.2% are married and 0.9% is a single parent. They also tend to focus more on their careers. Women in relationships, according to Bursztyn et. al. (2017), must make more sacrifices than single women. Perhaps this demonstrates that businesses prefer single employees because they can devote more time to different working shifts and easily adapt to any work situation. Furthermore, the findings revealed that respondents who are members of LGBTIQA+ are still single.

Table 4. Profile of the BSTM Graduates (Region of Origin)

According to the study, nearly all of the respondents (89.63%) are from Region I, while a sizable proportion (6.67%, 1.48% 2.22%, respectively) are from Regions 2, 3 and CAR. Bringula et al, (2012) found that school location was important to working-class parents because they were concerned about the following: violence and crime in the area; children traveling alone by public transportation after dark; being able to get to school quickly in case of emergency; and the anxiety of children in the family who were attending different schools. Parents and students may choose a school location because it is close to or within their region.

From the analysis among the sexes, Table 4 shows that 25 of the 27 male respondents originated from Region I. Of the 108 females, 96 also originated in Region I. only 10.37% came from other regions such as Region 2, 3 and CAR (7%, 2%, 2%, respectively).

Table 5. Profile of the BSTM Graduates (Province)

In terms of province of origin (see Table 5), the study found that almost all of the respondents (89.9%) were from Ilocos Norte. A number of respondents came from the neighboring provinces of Apayao, Cagayan, Ilocos Sur, Nueva Ecija and Pampanga. According to Dahari and Ya (2011), geography heavily influences parental decisions. They discovered that the majority of parents would enroll their children in a school that was less than three kilometers from their home or workplace to save money and secure the kids’ safety.

According to the gender data, 25 of the 27 male respondents are from Ilocos Norte, with the remaining respondents from other provinces. Similarly, the majority of female respondents (95 of 108) are from Ilocos Norte. Both male and female respondents preferred to study close to their homes in order to be near to their support systems. When emergency strikes, their homes serve as safe havens.

Table 6. Profile of the BSTM Graduates (Location of Residence)

As to respondents’ residence, Table 6 shows that 65.9%of the graduates are permanently residing in various municipalities in Ilocos Norte while 34.1% reside in the city. In terms of sex, 15 male respondents live in municipalities, while 12 live in cities. Female respondents live in municipalities 74 percent of the respondents, while 34 percent live in cities.

Educational Experiences of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates

This section depicts BS in Tourism Management graduates’ educational experiences, including the year they graduated, honor(s) or award(s) received, scholarship, professional skills, and reason(s) for taking the course or pursuing the degree.

Table 7. Educational Experiences of the BSTM Graduates (Year Graduated)

From Table 7, the SY 2017-2018 (25.9%) had the highest enrollment. It’s interesting to note that the number of female respondents had consistently outnumbered male respondents from SY 2013-2014 to SY 2017-2018. This indicates that the tourism industry is dominated by females. This finding is consistent with the World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) 2019 report, which found that women make up the majority of the tourism workforce worldwide. The UNWTO’s report also highlights how a growing number of women in the industry are defying gender stereotypes. Zurab Pololikashvili, the Secretary-General of UNWTO, stated in the report that the organization is firmly committed to empowering women by ensuring that tourism remains at the forefront of gender-equality efforts. This statement manifests to most of the establishments in the tourism industry in which there is a great number of female employees as can be seen in the airline, hotel and other tourism businesses.

Table 8. The Educational Experiences of the BSTM Graduates (Honor(s) or Award(s) Received

In terms of honor(s) or award(s), the majority of respondents (90.4%) did not receive any awards or honors. In Table 8, a significant number of male respondents (7.4%) received non-academic awards while female received both non-academic awards (0.9%) and academic awards (9.3%) specifically “cum laude”. Emphasis is given to the fact that male respondents are more interested in non-academic awards, whereas female respondents are more interested in academic awards. However, in the study of Parajuli and Thapa (2017), results showed that there is no statistical difference in the academic performance between female and male students.

Table 9. The Educational Experiences of the BSTM Graduates (Scholarship)

In terms of scholarship, Table 9 shows that most of the respondents (64.4%) did not avail of a scholarship.  For those who did, the majority benefited from the Academic Scholarships, City Scholarship, CHED Scholarship, Manang Imee Scholarship, Provincial Scholarship, SIRIB Scholarship, SK Scholarship and Varsity Scholarship. Scholarship programs were given to deserving underprivileged students based on family income, geographical spread, student academic standing, and low dissemination of scholarship materials and information. From the analysis among the sexes, 7 (25.9%) of the 27 male respondents have availed themselves of scholarship. Of the 108 females, 41 (38%) have availed of scholarships.

Table 10. The Educational Experiences of the BSTM Graduates (Professional Skills)

In terms of professional skills, Table 10 shows that 60% of respondents believe they were given more emphasis on interpersonal relations skills. Cueto (2016) backs up this findings in which it stated that the graduate’s ability to interact socially increase their employability. Because tourism is considered a service industry, it is critical to teach future tourism professionals how to work efficiently and effectively with people. Next is the computing skills (15.56%), which include any skills related to computers, applications, and technologies. This demonstrates the Tourism and Hospitality Management Department’s efforts to keep students up to date on industry-relevant technological trends. Other skills that were specified by the students are communication skills, entrepreneurial skills, leadership skills problem-solving skills and tourism-related skills such as customer service, food and beverage, and cultural awareness.

In a sex analysis, the majority of both male and female respondents ranked interpersonal relations and computing as the first and second most valued skills in college, respectively, followed by other skills with varying percentage responses. Males believe that school has provided them with skills in customer service, entrepreneurship, leadership, and problem-solving. Female respondents, on the other hand, listed tourism-related skills such as customer service, food and beverage, and cultural awareness in addition to the aforementioned.

Table 11. The Educational Experiences of the BSTM Graduates (Reason(s) for Taking or Pursuing the Degree)

*multiple response

In terms of reason(s) for taking or pursuing the degree, respondents ranked “Strong passion for the profession,” “Opportunity for employment abroad,” and “Peer influence” as the first, second, and third most influential driving factors, with little variation. This demonstrates that BSTM graduates were determined to obtain a tourism-related job abroad. At the same time, it demonstrates the critical importance of peer influence in career decisions.

As to sex as shown in Table 11, males and females’ responses are nearly identical, resulting in “Strong passion for the profession” and “Opportunity for employment abroad” being included in their top three reasons for pursuing the degree. It is worth noting, however, that female respondents included “Peer influence,” whereas male counterparts did not. However, they consider “Prospect of career advancement” to be among the top three. This demonstrates that females respond to peer influences while males do not. Females are more influenced by their peers, according to social psychology theories (Riegle-Crumb & Morton, 2017).

Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates

The following sections reveal the progression and success of the BSTM graduates through their employment data such as employment status, occupation, agency, place of work, line of business, first job after college, first  job related to the course, finding the first job, reasons for accepting the job, how long it takes to land  a job, gross monthly earning.

Table 12. The Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates (Employed)

Table 12.a. The Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates (Unemployed)

In terms of employment data of the BS in Tourism Management graduates (Table 12), the study revealed that 72.6% of respondents indicated that they are now employed, 18.5% responded that they are not, 7.4% mentioned that they are currently self-employed, and 1.5% said that they have never been employed after graduating. The Table 12.a shows that the reasons provided by the 20% of respondents as to why they are not currently employed and have never been employed are due to the reason of taking advance or further study, the effects of the pandemic, family issues, and lack of job opportunities. Accordingly, the outcomes of students are important, and the improvement of knowledge, skills, and competencies are the main concerns that should be taken up in every educational institution (Deblois, 2021). Employment of students after graduation can be determined by how the expected student outcomes were achieved. Thus, educational institutions’ designed curriculum and its implementation are factors for achieving student outcomes (Deblois, 2021). With the big percentage of BS Tourism Management graduates being either employed or managing their own business having a weight of 80%, it can be said that the BSTM alumni of College of Business, Economics and Accountancy are highly employable.

According to the analysis of responses by sex, majority of both male respondents and female respondents are either currently employed. This could imply that the BS Tourism Management program has added value by developing job-related skills and competencies that have prepared its male and female graduates for the workplace.

Table 13. The Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates (Employment Status)

From the data shown in Table 13, in terms of the employment status, the study revealed that 76% of the respondents work as a regular or permanent employees, 14% as contractual, while the rest work with a job order, casual or temporary status. With the extracted data, it can be implied that the produced graduates of the BS Tourism Management program of the College of Business, Economic and Accountancy are employable. According to responses by sex, 66.7% of all male respondents and 77.9% of all female respondents are on a regular or permanent status. Perhaps the graduates were also qualified for the position due to their educational attainment and eligibility.

Table 14. The Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates (Agency Employed at)

Table 14 shows that the majority of respondents, 79.6%, work for private organizations. When it comes to sex, 76% of male graduates work for a private company, while 24% work for the government. Only 19.3% of female graduates found work in government, while 80.7% found work in the private sector.

Table 15. The Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates (Place of Work

In terms of work location, 85.2% of respondents are employed locally. In terms of gender responses, 88% of male graduates work for local businesses, while only 12% work abroad. Female graduates work in the local economy at 84.3%, and 15.7% work abroad.

Table 16. The Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates (Present Occupation’s Line of Business)

Table 16.a. The Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates (Present Occupation’s Line of Business according to Year Graduated)

According to Table 16, 38% of respondents currently work in Tourism and Hospitality Sectors such as accommodation, food and beverage, tourism government, transportation, and travel trade. While 62% of respondents are currently employed in industries unrelated to the course. The findings implied that there were job mismatch among the majority of the BSTM graduates both male and female. Table 16.a also shows the current occupation’s line of business based on the year graduated. According to the study, graduates in 2015 had the highest percentage of job mismatch, followed by graduates in 2018. However, the majority of respondents stated that their current job is not their first job.

Table 17.  The Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates (First Job After College)

Table 17.a. The Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates (Reasons for Changing Job)

*multiple response

According to Table 17, 59.4% of respondents (59.4% female and 59.3% male) stated that their current job is not their first job out of college. Only 40.6% of respondents (40.6% female and 40.7% male) stated that their current job is their first job after college. Furthermore, according to Table 17.a, those who have changed jobs stated that their reasons for changing jobs were salary and benefit issues, as well as a career challenge. This findings is supported by a survey about career switching in the Philippines (Desiderio, 2018) which revealed that the most common reasons given by survey respondents for changing careers is a higher salary and financial stability, as well as a lack of advancement opportunities in their current field. Career challenge is the degree to which a job necessitates a variety of different activities in order to be completed. This may be a motivator for some, but it may cause fatigue and anxiety in others who see it as additional work and may lead to fear of underperformance. This study also revealed other reasons for changing jobs such as special skills, proximity to residence, and retrenchment due to pandemic.

Table 18. The Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates (First Job Related to the Course)

In terms of first job related to the course, Table 18 shows most of the respondents, or 56.4%, mentioned that the first employment is related to the course they pursued in college only 43.6% mentioned their course is not related. For the sex analysis, 63% of the male graduates mentioned that their course is related to their job only 37% disagreed. For the female respondent 54.7% mentioned that their course and job are related and 45.3% mentioned that their job and their college course is not related with one another.

Table 19. The Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates (Finding the First Job)

In terms of finding the first job, Table 19 shows that 30% of the respondent mentioned that they landed on their first job as walk-in applicants. It is interesting to note that while there are only 2% of the respondents that chose to work in their family business, only 3% found their job as arranged by school’s job placement offer. For the gender analysis, 42% was through the recommendation of someone they know, 28% of the female respondents found their first job as a walk-in applicant, , and 12% was through information from friends. On the other hand, 37% of the male graduates responded being a walk-in applicant, followed by that it was recommended by someone with 30%, and the percentage with 11% were through information from friends and absorbed after on-the-job training.

Table 20. The Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates (Length of Time to Find the first Job)

In terms of how long it took the graduates of the program to land on their first job, Table 20 shows that more than half of the respondents with 58% responded that it took them less than a month and 33.6% took 1 to 6 months. It is worth noting that the above result was also due to the fact that a number of graduates were absorbed by the host-training establishment where they took their on-the-job training. For the gender analysis, 74.1% of the male respondents said it took them less than a month to land on their first job, 22.2% took them between 1 to 6 months, and 3.7% took them 2 years to less than 3 years. Similar to male graduates, majority of the female graduates also took less than a month with 52.8%, 35.8% for 1 to 6 months, 6.6% for 1 year to less than 2 years, and 4.7% for 7 to 11 months.

Table 21. The Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates (Reasons for Accepting the Job)

*multiple response

As for the reasons for accepting the job, Table 21 shows that the primary reason of the respondents was due to the challenge that would be present in the job for their career, with salaries and benefits coming in second. This could imply that since this is their first job, perhaps their major objective is to put their knowledge to use and gain experience to advance in their careers. It is only their secondary goal to achieve monetary commensuration. For the gender analysis, majority of the female respondents said that their primary reason for accepting the job was for career challenge, 76.1% cited that their special skills are related to the job applied for, 74% considered the salaries and benefits, and 59.3% said that it was due to proximity to their residence. As for the male respondents, majority of the respondents accepted the job due to their expectations with the salaries and benefits with 40.7% said that it was due to proximity, a close percentage for salaries and benefits and special skills related to the job came in second and third with 26% and 23.9%, respectively, and 13.8% said that it was due to career challenge. This implies that more male graduates of the program prefer to work close to their homes.

Table 22. The Employment Data of the BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) Graduates (Initial Gross Monthly Earnings in the First Job)

With regards to initial gross monthly earnings as shown in Table 22, it revealed that 64.7% of the respondents had a salary running between 5,001-15,000, and 17.3% had a monthly earning between 15,001-25,000. For the analysis by gender, both genders’ initial earning was between 5,001-15,000 pesos a month with 59.3% for males and 66% for females. Similarly, coming in second for both genders is the 15,001-25,000 monthly earnings with 22.2% for males and 16% for females.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The study was conducted to track the employment locations of BS in Tourism Management (BSTM) graduates at the College of Business, Economics, and Accountancy from SY 2013-2014 to SY 2017-2018. The Gender-Based Tracer Study of BS in Tourism Management Graduates was determined using Sex Disaggregated Data (SDD) analysis.

The BSTM graduates’ profiles were examined in terms of general information, educational experience, and employment data. Similarly, the research elicited suggestions for improving the degree program and curriculum. It also provided a database of BSTM alumni to the program and the college.

The descriptive research method was used in this study, as well as the instrument recommended by the CHED-Graduate Tracer Study. (CHED-GTS). To collect data from the graduates, an online survey was used, as well as Google forms and various online platforms such as social media. It employed frequency as a statistical tool to determine the respondent profile. The actual respondents (135 graduates) were drawn at random from a pool of 445 BSTM graduates from the academic years 2013-2014 to 2017-2018.

The following are the study’s key findings: From SY 2013-2014 to SY 2017-2018, the profiles of BSTM Graduates at the College of Business, Economics, and Accountancy were female, heterosexual, single, from Region I, located in Ilocos Norte, and residing in municipalities. In terms of educational experiences, the majority of them graduated in SY 2017-2018, received no honor(s) or award(s) and no scholarships, have interpersonal relations skills, and have a strong passion for the profession as their primary reason for taking or pursuing the degree. In terms of employment, the majority of graduates are employed, with regular employment status in private agencies located locally, and mostly in occupations unrelated to their degree. Their current job is not their first job after college. They also stated that their first job is related to their course, which they obtained through walk-in applications, and that they accepted the job because of career challenges. It took them less than a month to find work, with gross monthly earnings ranging from 5,001 to 15,000 pesos.

The general information profile of “male” BSTM graduates from SY 2013-2014 to SY 2017- 2018 at the College of Business, Economics, and Accountancy revealed that the majority of them are single, heterosexual, from Region I, located in Ilocos Norte municipalities. In terms of educational experience, the majority of them graduated in SY 2015-2016, received no honors or awards, no scholarships, have interpersonal relations as professional skills, and the prospect of career advancement was their primary reason for taking or pursuing the degree. According to their employment data, the majority of male graduates have regular employment and work for local private companies in fields unrelated to their degree. Their current position is not their first job after graduating from college. They also discussed how their first job relates to their studies and was recommended by someone. They stated that the primary reason for accepting the position was their salary and benefit expectations. They found work in less than a month and earn between 5,001 and 15,000 pesos per month.

The BSTM “female” graduates at the College of Business, Economics, and Accountancy from SY 2013-2014 to SY 2017-2018 general information profile revealed that the majority of them are single, heterosexual, from Region I, located in Ilocos Norte, and residing in the municipality. In terms of their educational experience profile, the majority of them graduated SY 2017-2018, did not receive honor(s) or award(s), received no scholarships, have interpersonal relations as professional skills, and their strong passion for the profession was their primary reason for taking or pursuing the degree. According to their employment data, the majority of female graduates are employed locally, with regular employment status in private agencies as well as occupations unrelated to their degree. Their current job is not their first job after college. They also stated that their first job is associated with their course. In terms of their first job, they were hired through walk-in applications, citing a career challenge as the primary reason for accepting the position. It took them less than a month to find work and earn between 5,001 and 15,000 pesos per month.

It is recommended to:

1. Provide training and workshop intended for the development of necessary professional skills in the tourism industry.
2. Offer a curriculum that is tailor-made based on the students’ future career aspirations.
3. Extend across all genders similar opportunities and relevant exposures to attain relevant in academic and non-academic awards and recognitions.
4. Enhance employment linkages for potential hiring options and opportunities to graduates.
5. Promote lifelong learning and skill improvement.
6. Plan and conduct activities geared towards establishing ties and connections with alumni and other industry professionals.
7. Implement extension programs designed to address gaps in school and industry promotional advertisements related to gender and development.
8. Provide gender-sensitive training to the staff members who administer the Career Guidance Program.
9. Conduct intervention programs for unemployed BSTM graduates of MMSU-CBEA.

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