12

12 10.5604/23920092.1134790
10.5604/01.3001.0009.5105

International Journal of Pedagogy

Innovation and New Technologies
journal homepage: http://www.ijpint.com
ISSN: 2392-0092, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2016

Relationship between gender and employment contexts

of Bicol University graduates
Eddie S. See, Mary Ann M. See

CONTACT: Eddie S. See, Ed. D., Bicol University, Daraga, Albay, Philippines, E-mail: ess4560@yahoo.com

Keywords: Abstract:
relationship, gender, employment Background: The Bicol University identifies if gender equity is an issue among its graduates.
contexts, bicol university Purpose and Research Objectives: The study sought to identify if there is arelation-
graduates ship between the Bicol University graduates gender and their scholastic circumstances and
employment/ employment-relevant setting.
Sample and Research Design: The study used the 622 questionnaires retrieved in the
original research and employed secondary analysis as its research strategy.
Results: This study found out that gender among the graduates of Bicol University seems to have abearing on the course they
took in college, their present employment and their present occupation. On the other hand, sex appears not to have an influence on
the honors they received in college, the reason for taking the college course, their present professional skills, their place of work, the
relation of the college course to their first job, the length of time in finding job and the job level. Scholastic performance in college

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seems not be influenced by sex. The latter also does not have any bearing on the reasons why these graduates took the courses they
had in college.
Recommendation: Managers in colleges and universities, and the industries may find in these findings some basis for making
decisions vis-a-vis male and female Bicol University graduates.

1. Relationship between gender and employment contexts

of Bicol University graduates
This study is attached to two theories one is Cotters (2004) There are vast differences in womens and mens
access to and opportunities to exert power over economic structures in society and, two, Gender discrimi-
nation across the board exists in terms of education, hiring and compensation, promotion, mobility and inad-
equate sharing of family responsibilities (Cotter, 2004, p.306).
An ancient folkloric account of how women are discriminated against in terms of schooling and profes-
sion is given below:

The ancients didnt have obstetricians, and as a result, women because of modesty perished. For the Athe-
nians forbade slaves and women to learn the art of medicine. Acertain girl, Hagnodice, avirgin, desired to
learn medicine, and since she desired it, she cut her hair, and in male attire came to acertain Herophilus for
training. When she had learned the art, and heard that awoman was in labor, she came to her. And when the
woman refused to trust herself to her, thinking that she was aman, she removed her garments to show that
she was awoman, and in this way, she treated women. When the doctors saw that there were not admitted to
women, they began to accuse Hagnodice, saying that he was aseducer and corruptor of women, and that the
women were pretending to be ill. The Areopagites, in session, started to condemn Hagnodice, but Hagnodice
removed her garments for them and showed that she was awoman. Then the doctors began to accuse her more

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 94 Eddie S. See, Mary Ann M. See Relationship between gender and employment contextsof Bicol University graduates

vigorously, and as aresult the leading women came to the Court and said: You are not husbands, but enemies
because you condemn her who has discovered safety for us. Then the Athenians amended the law, so that free
born women could learn the art of Medicine. (MacDonald, 1983)
This research endeavors both to add up to the existing theories on the association/non-association of
gender to education and employment, and to be able to identify any symptom of the existence of gender-con-
nected segregation in the college/university and in the workplace either for further verification or for possible
proposition of an intervention.

2. Research question and design

Generally, this study sought to identify if there is arelationship between the Bicol University graduates gender
and their scholastic circumstances and employment/ employment-relevant setting. Specifically, it sought to
find out the strength and significance of relationship between the graduates gender and their:
1. Scholastic circumstances:
Course graduated.
Honors received.
Reasons for taking the course.
2. Employment/employment-relevant setting:
Professional skills possessed.
Professional examinations passed.
Trainings/advanced studies attended.
Present employment status.
Present occupation.
Place of work.
Reasons for staying on the job.
Relation of first job to course.
Length of time of finding job.
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Job level.
This study made use of secondary and content analyses as the research strategies. Its primary source of
data is the output of the researchers CHED-BU Graduate Tracer Study completed in June 27, 2008. Second-
ary analysis involves the use of existing data, collected for the purpose of aprior study, in order to pursue
aresearch interest which is distinct from that of the original work; this may be anew question or an alternative
perspective of the original question (Hinds, Vogel & Clark-Steffen, 1997).
The research problems of said study, which were in accordance to those set/suggested by the Commission
on Higher Education are completely dissimilar to this one. The data were re-taken using asecondary analysis
guide and re-analyzed according to the problems of this research. One of the authors of this paper was party
to the primary data analysis.

3. Participants
As in the original paper (See, 2008), this study presupposed the same proportionate stratified probability ran-
dom sampling design with the population involving the entirety of the college alumni of Bicol University who
graduated during school year 2000-2001 to school year 2003-2004. The size was 12, 960. The derivative of the
sampling formula for estimating population proportion population known was used, namely.
The following formula was used for the sample size determination.
NPQ
n=
(N 1) e2
+ PQ
z2
where
P proportion between two variables of nominal measure in decimal form.

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 Eddie S. See, Mary Ann M. See Relationship between gender and employment contextsof Bicol University graduates 95
Q=1P
e margin of error as ratio in decimal form
z standard score based on an assumed confidence level (1-a)
at
P = 0.5
Q = 1 P = 0.5
z= 2 (at confidence level of 0.9544), and N so large that it makes 1 negligible,
this formula simplifies to
N
n=
1 + Ne2
and at N, population size = 12, 960, Margin of error = 0.05, n = 500
The previous article (See, 2008) originally targeted asize of 500 to be proportionately distributed to the
different programs, with amargin of error of five percent, 622 questionnaires were eventually received, repre-
senting amargin of error of 0.03912. The retrieved questionnaires also resulted to adisproportionate sample
distribution among the strata.

4. Researcher
The primary author of this endeavor was the principal investigator of the original descriptive study. He applied
his knowledge in correlational/ associative inferential statistics and went higher and deeper in the analysis of
the available data.

5. Data collection
This pursuit saved much as far as data collection is concerned since the data collected in aprior study are
already available.

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6. Data analysis
The analysis drew on the associative statistical tool namely the chi-square based measure of association con-
tingency coefficient, to gauge the strength of relationship between gender and employment contexts. Chi-
square test was applied to determine if the relationship was significant.

7. Results and discussion

Scholastic circumstances

Course taken. Data show asignificant relationship between the gender of the Bicol University graduates, and
the course they took in college (c=0.36). The trend displays that more males graduated from engineering, agri-
culture, peace and industrial technology courses while more females took the rest of the courses (Table1.1).
The figures provide evidence that the traditionally male dominated courses engineering, agriculture and peace
studies (perceived to be akin to criminology) are up to now, still male led. What is surprising here is that
aside from the mentioned courses, almost all of the rest of the courses- arts, natural science, communications,
social work, education, management, entrepreneurship, accountancy, food technology, nursing and computer
science, are populated by the females. The findings matches Bradley & Charless study (2009) averring that
although female enrollment in higher education increased dramatically throughout the world, women remain
significantly underrepresented in engineering programs.

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 96 Eddie S. See, Mary Ann M. See Relationship between gender and employment contextsof Bicol University graduates

Table 1.1. Frequency distribution by course by gender

Course Male Female
AB Economics 4 16
AB English 0 15
AB Political Science 6 9
AB Journalism 2 4
AB Sociology 5 7
AB Speech and Theater Arts 1 6
BS Biology 1 4
BS Chemistry 1 5
BS Social Work 2 9
BS Applied Biology 1 2
AB Peace and Security Studies 5 3
AB Audio Visual Communications 6 15
Bachelor of Elementary Education 15 87
Bachelor of Secondary Education 19 68
BS of Agricultural Education 1 7
BS in Industrial Education 24 8
BS in Physical Education 3 3
BS in Practical Arts Education 3 10
BS in Agricultural Engineering 5 1
BS in Architecture 5 3
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BS in Chemical Engineering 2 0
BS in Electrical Engineering 8 1
BS in Industrial Technology 7 0
BS in Mechanical Engineering 10 0
BS in Garments Technology 0 1
BS in Geothermal Engineering 2 1
BS Automotive Technology 0 0
BS Nursing 5 11
BS in Agribusiness 10 7
BSBA in Management 11 25
BSBA in Entrepreneurship 5 11
BS Accountancy 2 8
B in Agricultural Technology 3 5
BS in Agriculture 4 4
BS in Agroforestry 4 1
BS Fisheries 5 5
BS Food Technology 0 4
BS Computer Science 5 12
BS Civil Engineering 7 4
BS C0106 1 1

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 Eddie S. See, Mary Ann M. See Relationship between gender and employment contextsof Bicol University graduates 97
This is an indication that most areas in the work place will be occupied by women workers/employees. The
statistics conform to Parsons (1955) earlier models of total role segregation in education and the double burden
model. They do not agree to Parsons total disintegration role in co-education. The study of Reyes (2007) sug-
gests that in the case of education, women tend to be better off in terms of higher cohort survival rate. This result
presents sufficient evidence that hints at aneed to pursue further studies that associate sex with course.
Honors received. Table 1.2 illustrates no discernible archetype between gender of and honors received by
the graduates. Moreover, the computed contingency coefficient (c=0.19) was tested to be statistically insig-
nificant. The facts indicate no difference in academic performance between the male and female graduates
of Bicol University. This result contradicts the report of the US Department of Statistics (Cronin, 2006) that
men get lower grades and are less likely to obtain bachelors degrees than women. Cronin (2006) further
asserted that with sex discrimination fading and their job opportunities widening, women are coming on
much stronger, often leapfrogging the men to the academic finish. While the result may suggest there is no
sufficient evidence that hints at aneed to pursue further studies correlating sex with honors, its disagreement
with prior outcomes evokes further studies that could affirm either of the different findings. Said investiga-
tions must not, however, overlook the other factors that surround graduates in this study and graduates of
other studies such as the kind of prevalent culture they are in.

Table 1.2. Frequency distribution by honors received by gender

Honors received Male Female

Magna Cum Laude 1 1
Cum Laude 8 35
Academic distinction 1 1
Other awards 6 10
Deans list award 0 1

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Reason for taking the course. The frequency of graduates who responded to this matter is insufficient for
aclear trend to be discerned (Table 1.3). Areinvestigation of this issue may be needed for to come up with
any conclusion.

Table 1.3. Frequency distribution by reason for taking the course by gender

Reason for taking the course Male Female

Influence of parents or relatives 2 1
Peer influence 0 2
Inspired by arole model 1 1
Strong passion for the profession 3 1
Prospect for immediate employment 1 4
Status or prestige of the profession 2 1
Availability of course offering in chosen institution 1 2
Prospect of career advancement 1 1
Affordability for the family 2 2
Prospect of attractive compensation 1 0
Other reasons 0 1

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 98 Eddie S. See, Mary Ann M. See Relationship between gender and employment contextsof Bicol University graduates

Employment/employment-relevant setting

Professional skill. Acoefficient of 0.09 shows avery low trendy movement between gender and professional
skills in the sample respondents (Table 2.1). Also, the test submits no statistically significant relationship
between the variables. The predominant answer, other skills actually refer to the discipline-based compe-
tences such as accounting skills for BS accountancy graduates, teaching skills for BEEd and BSEd alumni, and
the like.
Table 2.1. Frequency distribution by professional skill by gender

Professional skill Male Female

Communication skill 0 4
Human relations skill 0 1
Information Technology Skill 20 40
Problem-solving skill 2 0
Other skills 64 83

Professional license. Table 2.2 shows the frequency distribution of the graduates by professional license by
gender. The trend is similar in both sexes. We can therefore surmise that gender has nothing to do with the
professional license of the BU graduate.

Table 2.2. Frequency distribution by professional license by gender

Professional license Male Female

Accountancy 2 8
Agri Eng 2 6
Agriculture 0 2
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Architecture 1 1
Chem Eng 0 2
Chemistry 1 3
Civil Eng 0 1
Criminology 1 2
Library Science 2 0

Trainings, advanced studies attended. Data show no significant relationship exists between sex and train-
ings attended by the graduates. Among the samples, there is avery low contingency coefficient of 0.16. This
finding points out no separation in the kind of preparation or enhancement for job between the sexes. None-
theless, it can also be seen that more females attended post baccalaureate or professional certificate programs
or training that is more than one year than males.

Table 2.3. Frequency distribution by training/advance studies attended by gender

Trainings/advanced studies Male Female

Advance studies or graduate program 18 45
Post baccalaureate or professional certificate program or training that is more than one year 5 17
Short term intensive professional development seminar or training 14 16
Short term professional related training 13 19
Other training 17 41

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 Eddie S. See, Mary Ann M. See Relationship between gender and employment contextsof Bicol University graduates 99
Employment. Gender and present employment has alow correlation coefficient of 0.21. But this associa-
tion is significant enough to exist among the population of graduates. The data (Table 2.4) also display that the
lowest male-female ratio is in the regular/permanent jobs and the unemployed.

Table 2.4. Frequency distribution by present employment by gender

Present employment Male Female

Regular or permanent 61 177
Temporary 12 19
Casual 10 15
Contractual 74 83
Self-employed 9 18
Unemployed 3 10

Present occupation. Gender and present occupation among the population of graduates appear to be sig-
nificantly associated at c=0.22. The study of Reyes (2007) showed that women tend not to fare as well in the
labor market; men tend to have higher positions and earn more than women in the same position; moreover;
female OFWs are often employed as domestic workers or entertainers. The lowest male-female proportion
could be noticed in the professional occupation and the sectors where males are slightly greater in number are
in the government/special interest executive positions and in plant assembling machine operations.

Table 2.5. Frequency distribution by present occupation by gender

Present occupation Male Female

Officials of government and special interest organizations, corporate executives, managers,
managing proprietors, and supervisors 17 15

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Professionals 57 185
Technicians and associate professionals 7 8
Clerks 14 29
Service workers and shop and market sales workers 17 20
Trades and related workers 0 1
Plant and machine operators and assemblers 7 3
Special occupation 17 23

Place of work. Data (Table 2.6) show zero relationship between gender and place of work of BU graduates.
This gives evidence that there is no basis to presume that one gender prefers to work abroad than the other.

Table 2.6. Distribution by place of work by gender

Reason for taking the course Male Female

Local 163 316
Abroad 2 4

Reason for staying on the job. Table 2.7 shows the frequency distribution of the graduates by reason for
staying on the job by gender. The trend is similar to both the male and female graduates. It can also be seen
that the most number of graduates stay on the job because of salaries and benefits.

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 100 Eddie S. See, Mary Ann M. See Relationship between gender and employment contextsof Bicol University graduates

Table 2.7. Frequency distribution by reason for staying on the job by gender
Reason for staying on the job Male Female
Salaries and benefits 3 11
Career challenge 2 4
Related to special skills 0 3
Related to course or study 3 5
Proximity to residence 0 3
Peer influence 0 1
Family influence 1 3
Other reasons 1 2

Relation of first job to course. Male and female graduates do not differ in their view on whether the course
they took in college was related to their first job or not. Similarly, the contingency coefficient of 0.03 is statisti-
cally insignificant.

Table 2.8. Frequency distribution by relation of first job to course by gender

Relation of first job to course Male Female
Related 86 150
Not related 34 69

Length of time of finding job. It can be noted in Table 2.9 that most of the graduates, both male and female
took from less than amonth to 1 to 6 moths finding ajob. Likewise, there is no significant difference in the
time of finding job between the male and female graduates of BU (c=0.05).
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Table 2.9. Frequency distribution by length of time of finding job by gender

Length of time finding job Male Female
Less than amonth 60 117
1 to 6 months 62 132
7 to 11 months 15 26
1 year to less than two years 13 36
2 years to less than 3 years 5 8
3 years to less than 4 years 2 4
Others 4 5

Table 2.10. Frequency distribution by job level by gender

Job level Male Female
Rank/clerical (1st job) 40 62
Professional, technical, supervisory (1 job)
st
49 75
Managerial or executive (1st job) 3 1
Self-employed (1 job)
st
3 5
Rank/clerical (current job) 4 7
Professional, technical, supervisory (current) 8 15
Managerial or executive (current job) 0 1
Self-employed (current job) 2 2

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 Eddie S. See, Mary Ann M. See Relationship between gender and employment contextsof Bicol University graduates 101
Job level. Table 2.10 shows that in all jobs, except for the managerial position, there are more females
than males Statistical tests showing that the job levels of male and female graduates do not differ (c=0.03)
confirm this.

8. Conclusions and Recommendations

Gender among the graduates of Bicol University seems to have abearing on the course they took in college,
their present employment and their present occupation. Males still crowd the engineering, technology, agri-
culture and criminology-associated courses but the females dominate almost all the rest of the courses. Males
take up the executive positions in government and special interest organizations and the machine operations
tasks jobs while females predominate in almost all other jobs, especially the professional careers. These find-
ings suggest the reasonability of pursuing further studies that could test the hypothesis that asignificant asso-
ciation exists between gender and the variables mentioned.
On the other hand, sex appears not to have an influence on the honors they received in college, the reason
for taking the college course, their present professional skills, their place of work, the relation of the college
course to their first job, the length of time in finding job and the job level. Scholastic performance in college
seems not be influenced by sex. The latter also does not have any bearing on the reasons why these graduates
took the courses they had in college. Said findings do not suggest the conduct of studies that would test the
hypothesis that asignificant association exists between gender and the afore cited variables.
These findings all dissent from Cotters theory that there are vast differences in womens and mens access
to an opportunities to exert power over economic structures, therefore offering avenues and reasons to con-
tinue verifying these critical theories about males and females. Also, managers in both training institutions
(colleges and universities) and the industries may find in these findings some basis for making decisions
vis-a-vis male and female Bicol University graduates.

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