From campus to career: Secondary teacher education graduates’ employment profile, programme satisfaction, and recommendations for improvement
Apler J. Bansiong & Alma Vida G. Gallardo
Abstract
Alumni employment serves as a critical indicator of an educational institution’s quality. Furthermore, alumni feedback provides valuable information for programme sustainability. This graduate tracer study investigated the employment profile, programme satisfaction, and recommendations of Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSED) graduates from a Philippine State University between 2019 and 2023, with the majority of respondents graduating in the two most recent years. Data were collected via a graduate tracer survey. The findings reveal a high overall employment rate of 87.86% among the traced graduates. However, a near-even distribution was observed between those employed as teachers (46.24%) and those in non-teaching roles (41.62%). Furthermore, private-sector employment (47.98%) surpassed public-sector employment (36.71%). An in-depth analysis reveals that among employed teachers, the private school sector predominates, whereas this trend is reversed for non-teaching roles. Notably, a significant proportion of graduates (68.22%) secured employment within six months of graduation. The respondents also reported being “very adequately prepared” in 21st-century skills. These results collectively underscore the graduates’ commendable employment and employability skills, as well as their overall satisfaction with their undergraduate training in secondary education. Finally, their recommendations for programme improvement coalesced into six overarching themes: curriculum and course content, experiential learning and practical training, student support and development, facilities and resources, administrative and policy improvements, and faculty and pedagogy.
Keywords
tracer study, Bachelor of Secondary Education, 21st-century skills, employment, employability
Author information & Contribution
Apler J. Bansiong. Corresponding author. PhD in Education (Biology), Professor IV, Benguet State University. Email: applebuns02@gmail.com
Alma Vida G. Gallardo. PhD in Educational Administration and Supervision, Associate Professor V, Benguet State University. Email: a.v.g@bsu.edu.ph
“Both authors equally contributed to the conception, design, preparation, data gathering and analysis, and writing of the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Funding
This work was not supported by any funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement
This study was conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines set by (Benguet State University. The conduct of this study has been approved and given relative clearance(s) by the College of Teacher Education of Benguet State University.
Data and Materials Availability
The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
AI Declaration
The authors declare the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in writing this paper. In particular, the authors used Grammarly in checking the grammar and writing mechanics. The author takes full responsibility for ensuring proper review and editing of the contents generated using AI.
Notes
Acknowledgement
We acknowledge the BSED alumni from 2019 to 2023 of the case institution for their willingness to participate in the study.
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Cite this article:
Bansiong, A.J. & Gallardo, A.V.G. (2025). From campus to career: Secondary teacher education graduates’ employment profile, programme satisfaction, and recommendations for improvement. International Journal of Educational Management and Development Studies, 6(3), 211-238. https://doi.org/10.53378/ijemds.353250
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