Employability of Computing Students in the Age of Disruption: A Graduate Tracer Study

This descriptive study traced the employability of graduates in the course program of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Bachelor of Science in Information and Technology, and Bachelor of Science in Game Development from a Philippine Private Higher Education Institution in this age of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the study assesses the relevance of the imparted competencies and skills in the respondents’ jobs. Appropriate protocols were observed during data collection. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to identify and reach graduates from 2016 to 2020. Hence, results show that most of the respondents were male, single, and residents of the National Capital Region, Philippines. In addition, the respondents were able to secure employment from local and international competitive companies within less than three months after their graduation. Thus, the acquired competencies and skills are very relevant to their job. On the one hand, the findings of this study can be used as a basis for the institution and other HEIs to innovate the educational programs, practices, and services relevant to computing courses following guidelines and standards set by the Philippine Commission on Higher Education.

Introduction

In the age of disruption brought by global health issues, the needs and demands in any workplace are constantly changing rapidly. The future of work is described as consisting of reskilling, social protection, digital work design, new work models, job creation, entrepreneurship, and inclusive labour markets (WEF, n.d.). Hence, emerging and declining jobs have been observed in the past few years. As reported by Whiting (2023), by 2025, about 97 million new jobs will enable humans and machines to work collaboratively. With this, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are challenged to produce graduates with the necessary competencies and skills to compete locally and globally in the new normal. For the past years, HEIs have continuously striven to reinvent their respective educational curricula and other programs to foster a learning environment that inculcates the necessary 21^st century competencies and skills along with the technical skills needed by the students to be equipped and ready for the various demands in modern society.

In response, the Philippine HEIs adopted an Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) framework guided by the Commission on Higher Education Memorandum Order Number 46, Series of 2012. This enables the various HEIs to purposely design programs encompass learning, awareness, abilities, and viewpoints that aid students in attaining their successful and satisfying life cycles as human beings, members of society, and at employment (Genelza, 2022). Moreover, it allowed HEIs to refine and recalibrate their respective educational programs and services to harness and strengthen the 21^st century and technical skills and competencies among students (Slyter, 2019). Hence, these creative and innovative teaching and assessing approaches were tested and highlighted during the recent COVID-19 pandemic (Mallikarjunaet al., 2021). It is undeniable that the recent pandemic presented unfamiliar challenges and measures of success in the new normal.

In the past years, HEIs’ success in providing educational services has been reflected in higher course completion rates, passing rates to board examinations or certification programs, and the employability rates of their graduates. It was also conceived that employability is merely having work rather than a set of achievements like specialization, understanding, and personal characteristics that give graduates a better chance to land a job relevant to their degree (Casanova & Paguia, 2022). During the peak of the pandemic, employability has significantly been affected due to various reasons such as community quarantine restrictions, economic upswings, mismatch of graduates’ competencies and skills with the available job opportunities, and the like (Ibañez, 2020). In a more recent context, Baron (2023) reported that pandemic graduates had difficulty finding jobs due to a lack of soft skills, culture shock, competing with more individuals, and the mismatch of graduates’ salary expectations to the actual. These indicate early challenges in building and paving the career pathways among new graduates in a gloomy labour economy.

Despite the economic challenges and upswings, the technology industry is one of the sectors that flourished during the recent pandemic. It was observed that the recent pandemic forced the Philippines and other countries to develop and adapt technology-based mechanisms to move forward in the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world. There was significant growth in private and public investment, upward consumer spending, and demand for better service driven by the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) that focuses on cyber security, software, services, enterprise applications, smart cities, telecommunications, and consumer electronics (Garousiet al., 2019). In support, Bouchrika (2022) described that the data from 2017 to 2018 shows an exponential growth of job opportunities related to ICT, such as Computer Science, Information and Technology, and Game Development across different countries and nations. This implies the vast opportunities that await aspiring graduates in ICT and its allied courses, locally and internationally. However, Garousiet al. (2019) reported that several graduates of computing courses experienced difficulties in beginning their careers due to misalignment of the competencies and skills they acquired in their tertiary education. In contrast, the Philippines placed last among its East and Southeast Asian peers in the 2023 edition of the online learning platform Coursera’s Global Skills Report (BusinessWorld Online, 2023). This report lays out and ranks the skills and proficiency of Asian students in technology, data science, and business.

Albina and Sumagaysay (2020) reported that graduates of ICT-related courses could easily begin their careers. Recently, it was reported that ICT-related course graduates could secure employment from well-known companies (Ortiz, 2022). Considering these underpinning concepts, findings, and gaps, a graduate tracer study was rolled out to investigate the demographic and employability profile and characteristics of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with specialization in Software Engineering (BSCS), Bachelor of Science in Information Technology with specialization in Web Development (BSIT), and Bachelor of Science in Game Development with specialization in Game Programming and Design (BSGD) graduates from 2016 to 2020 in a Philippine Private HEI. Woya (2019) mentioned that a graduate tracer study is a proven and efficient approach to collecting relevant information and data among its graduates to assess the relevance of curricula and educational programs in modern society.

In pursuit of this study, the researchers considered the Ladder Effect Theory by Devillé (2008) due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, this theory asserts that job competition will eventually cause unemployed skilled workers to apply for jobs in segments requiring lower qualifications and fill jobs that require lower levels of skill or formal qualifications than they have. The uncertainty in this pressing time has caused immediate migration of jobs due to the impact of the pandemic on various sectors of society and the economy, causing mismatches with applicants and job expectations and qualifications. Hopefully, this study can provide a glimpse into the demographic and employability profile of the graduates attuned to the Philippines Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 02 Series of 2014, known as Policies Standards and Guidelines For Bachelor of Science in Entertainment and Multimedia Computing and CMO No. 25 Series of 2015 known as Revised Policies, Standards, and Guidelines for Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS), Bachelor of Science in Information System (BSIS), and Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT) Programs. In addition, the salient findings of this study can provide bases for the concerned HEI and other HEIs offering similar programs in revising the curricula and other programs to ensure the quality of educational services offered among their respective students.

Objectives of the Study

This study aimed to investigate the employability of computing course graduates from 2016 to 2020 during the global pandemic, COVID-19. Specifically, the study aims to:

1. Establish the demographic profile of the respondents,
2. Establish the employability profile and characteristics of the respondents,
3. Determine the level of relevance of the imparted competencies and skills in their job,
4. Determine bases for course redirection and recommendations.

Materials and Methods

Research Design

This study employed a descriptive research design. It allowed the researchers to describe the respondents’ demographic and employability profile accurately and systematically through an online survey approach (McCombes, 2023). The researchers adapted and modified the CHED graduate tracer study questionnaire according to the intention of this study. To ensure the appropriateness and validity of the instrument, experts in the fields of education, measurement and evaluation, and computer science were asked to review the questionnaire before its administration. Afterwards, it was digitized through a licensed online platform and shared with the intended respondents through various appropriate communication channels.

Sample and Sampling Technique

Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to identify and reach out to the intended respondents of this study. Furthermore, the researchers considered a response rate ranging from 30% to 60% acceptable based on the implementing guidelines of a graduate tracer study by Schomburg (2014). The researchers considered graduates from 2016 to 2020 across the different computing courses. Records showed that there were about 263 graduates.

Data Collection

The data collection phase was from March to September 2022. During this phase, the researchers observed the underpinning principles of the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012 and the ethical standards set by the institution. Furthermore, appropriate departments assisted the researchers in reaching the intended respondents and asked for their assistance to float the instrument.

Data Analysis

The collected data were cleansed, aggregated, and analyzed accordingly through a licensed IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) v29. Appropriate descriptive statistical tools were used to analyze the collected data.

Results and Discussion

In the context of this study, the researchers described employability as the capability of the graduates to gain initial employment, maintain employment, and obtain new employment if required. It depends on the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies from the institution to the work environment. 184 people completed the online form.

Table I shows the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of sex, civil status, location of residence, and intention to pursue advanced studies. Regarding the respondent’s sex, it shows that the majority of the respondents were male based on the overall percentage of 79%. Moreover, the same observation can be gleaned across the various computing course programs. A similar result was observed in the study of Dela Rosa and Galang (2021), which contrasted with the findings in the study of Albina and Sumagaysay (2020). This suggests that computing courses are gaining interest among female students. In addition, it implies a change in behaviour due to computing courses being stereotyped with male students.

Table I. Demographic Profile of the Respondents

Profile variables	Course programs						Overall statistic
	BSCS		BSIT		BSGD
	f	%	f	%	f	%	f	%
Sex
Female	21	24	9	33	9	13	39	21
Male	67	76	18	67	60	87	145	79
Civil status
Single	86	98	25	93	68	99	179	97
Married	2	2	2	7	1	1	5	3
Separated/	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Divorced
Widow/Widower	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Location of residence
Within national capital region, Philippines	62	70	19	70	47	68	128	70
Outside national capital region but within the Philippines	21	24	8	30	16	23	45	24
Outside of the Philippines	5	6	0	0	6	9	11	6
Intention to pursue advanced studies
Yes	2	2	0	0	2	3	4	2
No	86	98	27	100	67	97	180	98

On the other hand, 97% of the respondents were still single, and 2% were married. In contrast, none of the respondents mentioned being separated, divorced, widowed, or widowed. This is similar to the respondents of Albina and Sumagaysay (2020) and Dela Rosa and Galang (2021). While 70% of the respondents were residents within the National Capital Region (NCR), Philippines, 24% were residents outside the NCR but within the Philippines, and 6% were outside the Philippines. This suggests that there is a movement in the residential area among the respondents, which is related to their employment status as imperial results in the succeeding discussion.

Consequently, 98% of the respondents are not yet interested in pursuing advanced studies, and 2% are interested in pursuing advanced studies. This implies that the respondents were able to secure a job with a bachelor’s degree only. However, there is a need for the institution to revisit the curriculum programs and other activities to harness and strengthen the characteristics of being a lifelong learner as manifested through pursuing advanced studies. This result is quite similar to that of Dela Rosa and Galang (2021).

Table II shows the employability of the respondents regarding their current employment status and duration of employment after graduation. It can be seen that 82% of the respondents are currently employed despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. This implies the employability value of the respondents. In addition, respondents from the BSCS program have the highest current employment rate. Unfortunately, 18% of the respondents were unemployed. Hence, respondents from the BSGD program have the highest unemployment rate. This suggests that the respondents were not severely affected by the impact of COVID-19 during its peak (Debueque-Gonzaleset al., 2023).

Table II. Employability of the Respondents

Employability profile	Course programs						Overall statistic
	BSCS		BSIT		BSGD
	f	%	f	%	f	%	f	%
Current nature of employment
Employed	75	85	22	81	53	77	150	82
Unemployed	13	15	5	19	16	23	34	18
Duration of being employed after graduation
Less than 1 month	39	44	8	30	10	14	57	31
1 to 3 months	30	34	6	22	19	28	55	30
4 to 6 months	11	13	8	30	12	17	31	17
7 to 11 months	7	8	1	4	11	16	19	10
More than 12 months	1	1	4	15	17	25	22	12

On the one hand, the employability of the respondents is also reflected in the length of time they have secured their first employment after graduation. With this, it reveals that 31% of the respondents were employed less than a month; 30% were employed between 1 to 3 months; 17% were employed between 4 to 6 months; 10% were employed between 7 to 11 months; and 12% were employed more than 12 months. This implies that most of the respondents could secure employment for 1 to 3 months. It is worth noting that respondents from the BSCS program have the highest employment rate. 25% of the BSGD graduates need more than 12 months before their first employment. This is quite similar to the results of Albina and Sumagaysay (2020) and Dela Rosa and Galang (2021). It seems graduates of computing courses can secure employment after their graduation. In addition, the respondents of this study confirmed that their first job is relevant to their course programs. However, the institution must investigate the cause of alarming unemployment rates among BSGD graduates.

Table III shows the employment characteristics among the employed respondents. In light of the current employment status, it can be seen that 93% of the respondents have permanent work, 3% of the respondents have temporary work, 4% have contractual work, and none have casual employment. This is a notable pattern across the course programs in this study. Hence, this is an excellent indicator of the quality or employability of the graduates of the computing courses provided by the institution (Albina & Sumagaysay, 2020; Dela Rosa & Galang, 2021). In addition, these results support the notion that competitive graduates in the job market often depend on strong curriculum programs.

Table III. Employment Characteristics of Employed Graduates

Employability variables	Course programs						Overall statistic
	BSCS		BSIT		BSGD
	f	%	f	%	f	%	f	%
Current employment status
Permanent/Regular	71	95	21	95	48	70	140	93
Temporary	2	3	0	0	2	3	4	3
Casual	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Contractual	2	3	1	5	3	4	6	4
Location of current work
Local	69	92	17	77	45	65	131	87
Abroad	6	8	5	23	8	12	19	13
Current gross monthly income
Below 10,000 Php	1	1	0	0	1	1	2	1
10,001–30,000 Php	4	5	2	9	6	9	12	8
30,001–50,000 Php	43	57	18	82	37	54	98	65
50,001–70,000 Php	20	27	2	9	5	7	27	18
70,001–90,000 Php	6	8	0	0	4	6	10	7
Above 90,000 Php	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1

On the other hand, 87% of the respondents had employment within the Philippines, and 13% were employed outside the country. This indicates that the respondents could secure relevant jobs, but they were not limited to local jobs as some are working in other countries. Consequently, about 65% of the respondents are currently receiving a monthly gross income ranging from PhP 30,001 to PhP 50,000; 18% of the respondents are receiving between PhP 50,001 to PhP 70,000; 8% of the respondents are receiving between PhP 10,001 to PhP 30,000; 7% of the respondents are receiving PhP 70,001 to PhP 90,000; and there a few who are receiving less than PhP 10,000 or above PhP 90,000. This implies that the respondents’ monthly income ranges from PhP 30,001 to PhP 70, 00 which falls in the pay scale of an individual working in the field of Information and Technology, Computer Science, and Game Development in the Philippines. Hence, it suggests that the respondents can secure jobs among competitive companies in their respective industries.

Table IV presents the reasons for being unemployed among the respondents. It can be observed that 41% of the unemployed respondents were affected by the recent pandemic COVID-19; 24% of the unemployed respondents cannot find a job aligned to their field of interest or experience; 12% of the unemployed respondents felt they lack the experience and the others are experiencing some family related concerns and issues; and 6% of the unemployed respondents plans to pursue advanced studies. In addition, it is worth noting that some of the respondents expressed additional reasons for being unemployed related to their citizenship status, mismatch of their skill sets and competencies to the available job opportunities, wanting to take a break from working, and being a self-employed person through establishing their own business. This is quite similar to the reported reasons why unemployment and underemployment among college graduates is increasing by Huuet al. (2022).

Table IV. Reasons for Unemployment

Reasons for being currently unemployed	Course programs						Overall statistic
	BSCS		BSCS		BSCS
	f	%	f	%	f	%	f	%
Advanced or further study	1	8	0	0	1	6	2	6
Family concern	1	8	1	20	2	13	4	12
Health-related reasons	1	8	0	0	1	6	2	6
Lack of work experience	2	15	0	0	2	13	4	12
No job opportunity	3	23	1	20	4	25	8	24
Affected by COVID-19	5	38	3	60	6	38	14	41
Total	13	100	5	100	16	100	34	100

Table V shows the identified acquired competencies and skills that the respondents deem relevant to their job after completing their respective courses from the institution. It reveals that across the different course programs, the respondents perceived that the knowledge, skills, and competencies imparted to them were relevant based on the overall weighted mean of 3.74, with a standard deviation of 1.13. Furthermore, graduates from the BSCS and BSIT find their course programs very relevant to their current job. In comparison, BSGD graduates find it relevant. In addition, it can be gleaned that problem-solving and technical competencies and skills received the highest rating across the three (3) programs. This indicates the quality and depth of competencies and skills shared with them during their course completion.

Table V. Acquired Competencies and Skills of Graduates

Acquired competencies and skills	Overall statistic
	Mean	Standard deviation	Verbal interpretation
Communication	4.01	1.88	Very relevant
Interpersonal	3.02	0.97	Relevant
Entrepreneurial	3.00	1.19	Relevant
Technical	4.32	0.88	Extreme relevant
Problem-solving	4.39	0.87	Extreme relevant
Leadership	3.70	1.00	Very relevant
Overall statistic	3.74	1.13	Very relevant

Interpersonal and entrepreneurial competencies and skills received the lowest rating, which implies the need for the institution to strengthen these competencies and skills among the current students. This also supports the interest of some respondents who wish to have their own business. These are quite similar to the findings of Albina and Sumagaysay (2020) and Dela Rosa and Galang (2021).

Furthermore, BSIT graduates suggest that the institution can reconsider the approaches to teaching and learning through industry-related exercises and practices and add courses that further elicit and strengthen their knowledge and competencies in front-end development, JavaScript frameworks, and other emerging technologies and programming languages. BSGD graduates suggest that the institution can reconsider enriching the course content and industry-related practices focusing on the aesthetic and design aspect of game development, such as 2D and 3D art courses and introductory courses in quality assurance. Lastly, BSCS graduates suggest the need to be exposed to the latest trends and technologies in computer science, courses imbued in artificial intelligence, business analytics, quality assurance, front-end development, and the like.

Conclusion

Indeed, the tracer study is an eloquent way to seek feedback on how an institution could reinvent its curriculum and course offerings through the employability of its graduates. In this study, the researchers were able to track the employability of computing graduate students from a Philippine Private HEI during the COVID-19 pandemic. With this, the following were drawn:

1. The majority of the respondents were male, single residents of the NCR, and had no intention of pursuing advanced studies during this study. This is quite similar to relevant studies.
2. The respondents’ employability is a reflection of the strength of the institution’s curriculum programs based on their current employment status and engagement. In addition, it shows that a graduate can secure a job among local and international competitive companies in less than 3 months with a monthly income that falls in the pay scale of an individual working in the field of Information and Technology, Computer Science, and Game Development in the Philippines.
3. Some of the respondents were unemployed due to the imperative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lack of job opportunities.
4. The respondents deem that the competencies and skills imparted after pursuing the course programs with the institution are very relevant to their jobs. Problem-solving and technical competencies and skills ranked the highest. In contrast, interpersonal and entrepreneurial competencies and skills ranked the least.

Consequently, the researchers deem to recommend the following:

1. Necessary revision of the curriculum of the identified computing courses could be carried out by the institution with high regard to the salient findings of this study.
2. Based on the findings of the study, the institution could develop programs that address the perspective of computing students toward pursuing advanced studies and further harnessing the competencies and skills needed in the workplace, especially their interpersonal and entrepreneurial skills.
3. Further tracer studies could be carried out considering the following. a)Regular conduct of a tracer study must cover a wider scope to establish more robust data that reflects the employability of the graduates. b)The respondents shall be the employers to further capture the employability of the graduates. c)The respondents shall be students who completed the computing course programs under the predicaments of the COVID-19 pandemic. d)Other demographic and employability profiles can be explored, such as frequency of changing jobs, job satisfaction, assumed primary and secondary job roles, and the like based on the CHED CMO No. 02 Series of 2014, known as Policies Standards and Guidelines For Bachelor of Science in Entertainment and Multimedia Computing and CMO No. 25 Series of 2015 known as Revised Policies, Standards, and Guidelines for Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS), Bachelor of Science in Information System (BSIS), and Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT) Programs. e)Challenges, difficulties, and opportunities experienced by unemployed and underemployed graduates must be considered.
4. Investigation of the soft and technical skills of the computing students prior to their graduation basis for an intervention program.
5. Investigation of the experiences of the computing students after completing their internship program.