Tracer study of information technology graduates from the San Jose Campus of Occidental Mindoro State College, Philippines from 2018 to 2022

Abstract

Every higher education institution has a tradition of conducting tracer studies to monitor the progress of its alumni.  The overall goal of this study was to track the current status and employment of Occidental Mindoro State, College, San Jose Campus, Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT) graduates for the academic years 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022.  The primary data-gathering tool was a modified questionnaire adapted from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and used in conjunction with the descriptive research methodology.  Just 465 of the 963 graduates who were surveyed-which included 53% female grads and 47% male graduates-replied.  In this study, descriptive statistics, including frequency counts, percentages, ranking, and T-test analysis were used.  The purpose of this study was to identify the general characteristics, educational background, post-college professional examinations passed, employment characteristics, find out the reasons for unemployment of the unwaged respondents, and to test the significant difference of the graduate’s competencies to the business line of their career.  Based on the totaled statistics, BSIT graduates have a better employability rate with regular status.  This indicates that the program's curriculum is compatible with the jobs in which IT graduates are employed.  Yet, the study revealed issues with critical thinking proficiency, length of employment, the requirement for graduate school, and motives for continuing in one's current position.  The majority of the replies came from the group affected by the pandemic.  When there is little face-to-face interaction, students are more motivated to worry about these things.  So, it is advised to observe and maintain their designated laboratory times where the typical critical thinking about an IT graduate does perform.