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One of the responsibilities of higher education institutions (HEIs) is to assure that its products are quality graduates and to assess the experiences of the graduates during their degree study and its transition in the professional field. Graduate tracer study one of the research mandates of each institutions (CHED-NHERA 2009) and globally recognized practice (Badiru & Wahome, 2016) as means of quality assurance. Graduate tracer studies allow the HEIs to further improve their teaching and training to graduates and integrate effective improvements into institutional programs (Badiru & Wahome, 2016).
One of the advantages of doing a graduate tracer study is to look-back into the curriculum of the program. According to Albina and Sumagaysay (2020), graduate tracer study recognizes and addresses curriculum-related issues, competencies in greatest needs of curricular attention; and curricular and career preparation.
Many tracer studies have been undertaken particularly in undergraduate programs (e.g. (Badiru & Wahome, 2016; Paul & MacDonald, 2020; Albina & Sumagaysay, 2020). Most of these studies investigate the level of employment and productivity of the graduates; and their competencies acquired and those needed in the job market. There were also tracer studies in the level of the graduate school but not as much as those in the undergraduate programs. Moreover, it must be known that graduate education is significant in the development of professionals that provide leadership and research capabilities that lead towards national development (Cagasan, Editha; Dargantes, Toni MArc; Florentino, Nicolasa; Lasquites, 2017).
In the undergraduate programs, the employers of the graduates are interested in the graduates’ communication skills, trainability, competence, and problem solving and analytical skills (Tutor, Melba V and Orbeta Jr, Aniceto and Miraflor, 2020). However, in the graduate programs, the Graduate education alumni must have possessed and developed skills like clinical skills, communication skills, innovation skills, leadership skills, technical skills, and knowledge of research methodology (University of Pittsburg, 2021; University of Illinois, 2010)
In the study of Galagang et al. (2013), graduates in the psychology department were offered work in private institutions or establishments because of the numerous vacancies and were employed in contractual or casual status due to limited regular positions in either private and public sectors. The graduates were also given technical and professional tasks which gave them chances for professional development and increased the knowledge and skills needed after graduation. Notably, the graduates believed that the program was able to develop them to be competent team players. However, they believe that they need more human resource related courses and relevant training to be included in their curriculum.
In education, most of the graduates are female as this program is a female-dominated program and had taken an eligibility examination. It was suggested that there should be more training and seminars intended for their specific specialization (Atijano et al., 2019). In the case of the Philippine Normal University, the graduates were capable of the essential knowledge, skills and attitudes and the passion and commitment for teaching has been developed (Reusia et al., 2020). More so, programs and activities must be conducted to enrich the personal growth of the prospective teachers.