Main building of De La Salle University in Manila, Philippines. Source: Melina Busch
Master’s Thesis
MSc in International Development Studies 2018-2019
How do tertiary educational institutions respond to the Future of Work in Manila, Philippines?
Melina Busch
Student number: 11859490 Supervisor: Niels Beerepoot
Abstract
In the present day, technologies are advancing and the nature of work is changing. Millions of occupations face the risk of being replaced with machines and artificial intelligence. A country like the Philippines pose enormous economic and social challenges due to the lack of means to keep up with these changes. An abundance of research exists on the changing nature of work and the amount of jobs that are at risk of being lost a result of this fourth industrial revolution. However, there exists little to no research on how the education sector is changing in response to this phenomenon, which gives purpose to this research. Education plays an integral role in preparing and orienting young individuals for work, therefore it is essential to investigate the initiatives that exist in providing students opportunities to develop themselves for their future. The current research investigates how educational institutions in the Philippines are responding to the changing nature of work and preparing their students for the future labor market. Twenty-three, semi-structured, in-depth interviews have been conducted with leaders in education and students at two Universities in Manila, the Philippines. The findings of this research indicate that the Universities in Manila are using outcome-based education that places a large emphasis on student outcomes, as well as developing skill sets and competencies in young individuals, including team-work, and communication skills. However, this sentiment is not perceived at all levels of the educational hierarchy and suggests that efforts to strengthen student employability remain weak. The overall conclusion is that the Philippines are attempting to keep up with the changing nature of labor but are not successful, as they struggle by remaining in a traditional educational system and by being supervised through heavy bureaucratic governmental organization. Tertiary educational institutions are hindered to speed up with global labor demands. More research is necessary to investigate this problem in the entirety of the Philippines in order to obtain a more comprehensive national picture of this issue.
Key words: Future of Work, tertiary education, Philippines, employability, outcome-based education, skill development
Table of Contents
Abstract 1 Table of Contents 3 List of Abbreviations 5 Chapter 1 – Introduction 6 1.1 Problem statement 8 1.2 Aim 9 1.3 Research Question 9 1.3.1 Subquestions 9 1.4 Thesis Overview 10Chapter 2 – Theoretical Framework 11
2.1 The Future of Work 11
2.2 Employability 15
2.3 Conceptual Scheme 17
2.4 Operationalization 18
Chapter 3 - Research Design 20
3.1 Location 20
3.1.1 General Description of the Philippines 20
3.1.2 Education in the Philippines 22
3.2 Epistemological stance 23
3.3 Participants 23
3.4 Data Collection Method 24
3.5 Sampling 26
3.6 Data Analysis 28
3.7 Ethics and Positionality 29
3.7.1 Trustworthiness 30
3.7.1 Authenticity 31
Chapter 4 – Empirical Results 33
4.1 University Perceptions of the Future of Work 34
4.2 Strengthening Student Employability 41
4.2.1 Outcome-Based Education 42
4.2.3 International Exposure 45
4.2.4 Entrepreneurship 46
4.3 Student Perceptions of Employability 47
Chapter 5 – Discussion and Conclusion 50
5.1 Limitations and Policy Recommendations 54
List of Abbreviations
CHED - Commission of Higher Education DLSU - De La Salle UniversityOBE - Outcome-based education
OECD - Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development SO - Student outcomes
Chapter 1 – Introduction
“Education is a big challenge now. If we do not change the way we teach, thirty years from now we will be in trouble. The way we teach - the things we teach our kids are the things since the past 200 years - it is knowledge based. We cannot teach our kids to compete with machines - they are smarter. We have to teach something unique so that a machine can never catch up with us. Values, believing, independent thinking, teamwork, care for others, these are the soft parts [skills], and knowledge will not teach you that. That’s why I think we should teach our kids sports, music, painting, art - to make sure humans are different, and everything we teach, is different from machines. If the machine can do better, you need to think about it.” Jack Ma, World Economic Forum 2018.
The World Development Report 2019: Changing Nature of Work states that by 2030, the global labor market will experience a significant transformation, by which time a large number of jobs will be eliminated, various types of new jobs will be created, and an estimated 375 million workers globally will have to transition to new occupational sectors (World Bank, 2019). This shift in the labor market has been anticipated by economists and policy makers in recent years (Manyika et al., 2017) and is due to advancing technologies such as artificial intelligence, digitization, and automation, which are causing the workplace to change and different demands for employers to emerge (Asian Bank, 2018). A result of this phenomenon is that people must learn new skills and adapt to working with new technologies; this is a significant challenge and has been a major topic of discussion for businesses and governments today (OECD, 2018). This notion that describes the phenomenon of the changing nature of work is called the Future of Work, a term that is used to describe the idea that technology is transforming the jobs of the future; this term is generally used as an umbrella term that encompasses the social, economic, and political challenges of this process (World Bank, 2019). An individual's skill requirement is one element that is affected by the Future of Work and falls within this umbrella.
The question of how people will adjust to these complex global issues has gained traction among policymakers and business leaders, as it has raised concerns for employment for future generations. The rapid development of technology leads to the question of how people will obtain jobs for which they are not even trained, as this development requires completely different skills and seriously threatens the ability of people to obtain and retain jobs (World Bank, 2019). Individuals who are trained in one skillset will require different skills and competencies in order to keep up with the jobs that will exist in the future (OECD, 2018). At the forefront of this discussion is the question of which institution is responsible for
this transformation and whether it has the capacity to upskill an entire generation to avoid a massive labor shortage. From the perspective of International Development studies, this issue is influenced by many institutions and economic practices; however, the problem of the matter surpasses the question of business practice and at its core addresses social and economic concerns.
Education plays a central role in developing a lifelong pathway for young individuals ("The Future of Work and Learning D2L", 2018). The purpose of education is to develop content knowledge, but it is also an essential element of preparing students by equipping them with skills for their future and preparing them for employment (OECD, 2018). Experts suggest that education serves a crucial role in keeping up with the changing demands of the labor market (Manyika, 2017), and as skill demands shift, education must therefore adapt to foster these skills in students (Bughin, 2018). In the same vein, the 2018 World Economic Forum statement of Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba, one of the world’s largest e-commerce businesses and a former English teacher, underlines the importance of education in the face of rapidly advancing technologies. For society to keep up with global technological advancements and demands, Ma emphasizes that education is an essential aspect of preparing young people for the future and that we must develop careful strategies for individuals to retain their uniquely human skills. This statement highlights the fact that traditional teaching is not relevant for the future and that students must possess the right skills to live and work in coexistence with arising technologies. This statement is true for primary and secondary education, but it is also important for tertiary education (OECD, 2019). The focus on developing uniquely human skills in future generations is essential as we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as Ma stresses that these unique skills are what differentiate us from machines. In accordance with Ma’s statements, this research views skill development as the main challenge posed by the Future of Work to younger generations. Because tertiary education places greater focus on developing skills for young individuals’ employment, this research focuses on this level of education.
The capability to gain initial employment, maintain employment, and obtain new employment if required is described as employability (Hillage and Pollard, 1998). With the growing relevance of the Future of Work, an individual's employability is an aspect that will change, as skill demand is expected to change (Manyika et al. 2017). The concept of employability as described by Hillage and Pollard (1998) is the capability to move self-sufficiently within the labor market based on one’s knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The changes in how people move through the labor market will also have consequences. Employability for millions of workers will be challenged as previously trained-for skills have decreasing relevance in the future labor market (Chang & Huynh, 2016). The majority of manual and routine work that exists today will likely be replaced by automation and digitization, and simple, manually intensive,
routine-task skills will no longer be needed in the future labor market (Manyika et al. 2017). Employees will face significant changes in demand by future employers and will need to develop new skills to accommodate modern demands unless they are prepared by training with the appropriate skills for the future. Ultimately, technological advances will profoundly affect individuals and their employment prospects and on a global level will determine the future of many emerging economies. Thousands of people will need to reskill or upskill to maintain parity of standards with the global workforce. Advanced skills such as complex problem-solving, teamwork, adaptability, and social skills and caring, all of which machines cannot match, are going to be the dominant skills of the future, which will have various effects on developing countries, especially in Asian Countries (Asian Bank, 2018).
In developing countries, the Future of Work will have a more serious influence on employability. Countries in the global south are confronted with the consequences of the Future of Work, as their entire working-class workforce may be in imminent danger of being left without jobs (World Bank, 2019). In countries such as the Philippines, this is an even greater concern because the education sector lacks resources to upskill their students (Asian Bank, 2018). Governments must act to ensure that the new technologies benefit their people and that people remain protected through the process (Asian Bank, 2018); however, concern is growing as to whether developing countries such as the Philippines will be able to conform to the necessary preparations for the Future of Work. The labor market is expecting massive transformations that leave the global population at risk of mass unemployment (OECD, 2018), and this situation has motivated this research to delve deeper into how institutions of tertiary education are responding to advancing technologies and addressing the Future of Work as one of the most leading global discussions of the present day. For developing countries, this problem is more striking for than advanced countries, as the majority of people in developing countries rely on manual and repetitive labor for their income and because they lack the resources and means to adjust to rapid global changes. The Philippines in particular rely on the manufacturing and service industries, making the Future of Work an issue that must be tackled in a serious manner.
1.1 Problem statement
In the present day, educational systems are asked to produce a workforce that is adequately prepared to meet the challenges of globalization and the global economy (Rizvi et al., 2005). In this context, education systems have become a marketplace of international economic agendas and the focus of countries’ competitiveness (Mok and Welch, 2003). Particularly in Southeast Asia, governments and societies are increasingly concerned about the role of education in improving national competitiveness and their place in global markets (Mok and Welch, 2003; Saptoka and Neupane, 2015). Over the past few
decades, educational systems in the Asia-Pacific region have seen significant changes, with continuous pressure for educational systems to develop driven partially by students, parents, and employers but much more so by greater forces such as globalization (Rizvi et al., 2005). As educational systems have become more imperative in the global context, new policy and governance requirements have emerged, and the purpose of education has shifted tremendously (Mok and Welch, 2003). The Future of Work poses a challenge to the adequacy of development in national labor and to global competitiveness for many South Asian economies.
1.2 Aim
While the importance of higher education is apparent in preparing new generations for the Future of Work, little research has been conducted on how these institutions can act upon this change (Chang & Huynh, 2016). This research serves to fill this gap, focusing in particular on the influence of tertiary educational institutions and their response to the Future of Work. The core of this research is to explore how higher educational institutions in the Philippines perceive to the Future of Work, what initiatives they can carry out to confront the Future of Work and optimize student employability, and how students perceive their preparedness for future employability. The current research develops an academic position in which it aims to highlight the challenge for tertiary education in the Philippines to adapt to the changes that arise with developing technologies. It attempts to analyze the perception which Philippine universities have of the future in order to demonstrate a multifaceted understanding of this concept. It then identifies the initiatives or plans that institutions have implemented to prepare for this phenomenon and critically assesses the extent to which they enhance student employability. Finally, this research illuminates how university students themselves view their preparedness for employability by their university. This study thus contributes tremendously to the academic and global debate on the Future of Work and the influence that higher educational institutions have on student employability and their preparedness for the future labor market.
1.3 Research Question
How do universities in the Philippines interpret the concept of the Future of Work, and what efforts are they making to strengthen student employability?
1.3.1 Subquestions
1. How do universities perceive the impact of the Future of Work on student employability? 2. How do universities act to improve students’ employability for the future?
3. How do university students perceive their preparation for employability in the future?
1.4 Thesis Overview
This thesis is written in a chapter-by-chapter format and it is structured in six consecutive chapters. The first chapter introduces the research topic and contextualizes this research within it. Chapter two provides a framework of the theory which this research is grounded in. In addition, it conceptualizes the key terms of the research and demonstrates how they are operationalized. Chapter three outlines the research design by providing a description of the research location and justification for the choice of location. In addition, this chapter conveys the epistemological stance, the participants, the data collection method, sampling, the data analysis. This chapter also includes ethics and positionality by discussing the trustworthiness and authenticity of this research. Chapter four reveals the empirical results of this research. Chapter 5 discusses the empirical findings, answers the research questions, and provides an agenda for future research. The final chapter, Chapter 6, contains the bibliography.
Chapter 2 – Theoretical Framework
2.1 The Future of Work
The idea that technological growth affects the way people work is prominently described as the Future of Work and has been a topic of discussion for economists and policy makers worldwide, as it has sparked the concern of technology replacing jobs and the way people work (Manyika et al., 2017). The term Future of Work is broadly defined as a “process in which the nature of work is changing as a result of advances in technology,” and it encompasses the idea that technology will one day replace the jobs in the labor market (World Bank, 2019). Experts are confident that technology will not entirely take over all employment; however, it remains a concern that many jobs in the labor market will experience a significant impact from automation and that many people will end up unemployed (Chang & Huynh, 2016). Multiple aspects of this issue are heavily discussed in this theoretical debate, but three main dimensions are most commonly explored: 1) The risk of automation taking over jobs; 2) sector transformation in the labor market; and 3) the appropriate skills for emerging jobs (OECD, 2019). All these dimensions illustrate ways in which technology affects human employment, and this section more closely examines the consequences of these effects on individuals and society. In developing countries, the Future of Work poses a particular challenge (Asian Bank, 2018), as discussed later in this section, which also touches upon one of the outcomes of the Future of Work, namely, the growth of the gig economy, which is an indicator of the changing nature of work. Many international development organizations such as the OECD, the World Bank (WB), and the Asian Development Bank, devote significant energy to researching the future of labor, and this paper primarily relies on their theoretical position regarding the Future of Work (Asian Bank, 2018; OECD, 2019, World Bank, 2019).
The first dimension of the Future of Work is the risk of automation replacing jobs. The WB believes that the growth of automation is one of the main concerns regarding the Future of Work (World Bank, 2019). Recent innovations in machine learning, robotics, and artificial intelligence suggest that in the next several decades, automation will be able to accomplish many activities that previously required people (OECD, 2018). As a result, an abundance of occupations are at high risk of being replaced, and automation poses a threat to millions of people (OECD, 2018). Research suggests that the risk of automation depends on the types of activities that an occupation involves and that jobs that include routine and repetitive tasks are at the greatest risk of automation (Frey & Osborne, 2013; Chang & Huynh, 2016). The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in transformation report states more specifically that occupations that are at high risk of being replaced by automation include activities that
are generally distinguishable by routine and non-routine tasks and manual versus cognitive tasks (Chang & Huynh, 2016). These tasks can be easily categorized by the type of activities the job involves, which helps determine their probability of being replaced by machines or robots (Chang & Huynh, 2016). The table below categorizes examples of task and skill occupations that are at risk of automation.
Table 1: Categorization of sample occupations by spectrum of tasks and skills
Ease of automation
High (Routine tasks) Low (Non-routine tasks)
Ease of
complementarity Low (manually intensive skills) A Cashiers Typists
Machine operators
B
Landscapers Home health aides Security personnel High
(cognitive-intensive skills) C Bookkeepers Proofreaders Clerks D Doctors Lawyers Managers Source: Chang & Huynh, 2016, p. 12.
Jobs such as cashiers, typists, and machine operators are high in routine tasks and involve manually intensive skills, meaning that these jobs are at high risk of automation. Jobs such as bookkeepers, proofreaders, and clerks, are also likely to be at risk of automation because they involve explicit, routine tasks that are easily codifiable. By contrast, jobs such as landscapers, home health aides, and security personnel are less likely to be replaced by automation because they involve non-routine tasks and require flexibility and human interaction. Occupations such as doctors, lawyers, and managers are resistant to replacement by automation in the coming decades because they involve non-routine, abstract tasks that require judgment, problem-solving, intuition, persuasion, and creativity (Chang & Huynh, 2016). Ultimately, this table illustrates that manual and routine type jobs are easily replaced by automation, while non-routine jobs involving cognitive skills are difficult to replace.
Several activities automation will not be able to easily replace, given the complexity and abstract nature of these activities (Chang & Huynh, 2016), such as those involving creative intelligence, social intelligence, perception, and manipulation, which are considered automation bottlenecks because they are not easily codifiable (Frey & Osborne, 2013). Occupations that involve these activities will, as a result, not be affected by automation, and the demand for these occupations will likely rise in the future as well
(World Bank, 2019). The contrast between the activities that can and cannot be automated sheds light on the unique human qualities that people have that automation cannot match. It is precisely because of unique human qualities that many policymakers and economists see the Future of Work as an opportunity rather than a threat (WEF, 2018).
In developing countries, automation poses greater risks (Chang et al., 2016), with millions of individuals in Southeast Asia at risk of being replaced by automation (Asian Bank, 2018). Developing countries face a dramatic impact of future automation for two primary reasons. First, more so than in developed countries, many people rely on low-skilled and routine jobs to make an income, which makes them particularly vulnerable to automation (Asian Bank, 2018). In fact, many ASEAN countries are threatened because they employ the majority of their people in the service and manufacturing sectors, both of which are very likely to be replaced (Chang et al. 2016). The second reason is that developed countries will use artificial intelligence to create their own highly automated facilities at home, and offshore service will no longer be needed (Manyika et al., 2017). As a result, the large number of unskilled factory workers that were previously employed in labor-intensive factories will thereafter have difficulty finding employment (Manyika et al., 2017). Automation can have long lasting consequences on developing country demographics, and if these are not addressed quickly enough, many of these economies may experience detrimental long-term effects (Ernst et al., 2018).
The second dimension of the Future of Work is sector transformation in the labor market. The development of technological substitution has the potential to disrupt various sectors by targeting specific industries (Chang & Huynh, 2017). According to Chang and Huynh (2017), key industries with a high capacity for automation in ASEAN countries include hotels and restaurants (80%), wholesale and retail trade (77%), construction (70%), and manufacturing (61%), which poses a threat to developing countries because they predominantly rely on these industries (Chang and Huynh, 2017). The industries that are at risk of automation, however, also differ per country. In the Philippines in particular, the manufacturing industry is at high risk of automation in the subsectors of computer and electronics (80%) and the garment industries (67%) (Chang & Huynh, 2017). The services industry is also at high risk of automation in the Philippines, especially in areas such as business process outsourcing or call centers (89%), and retail trade (88%) (Chang & Huynh, 2017). The impact of automation targeting specific industries is a reason why the Philippines is an interesting location for research. One of the consequences of specific industries being targeted by automation is the result of wages becoming polarized and national inequality increases (Chang et al. 2016). In addition, a shift in sector employment may result, whereby employment in sectors with low productivity and pay will shift to sectors with higher productivity and pay (Asian Bank, 2018).
This shift is skill-biased, however, and demands more from workers with lower skills than those with higher skills, thereby creating more inequality (Asian Bank, 2018). As a country wherein these industries have a vital role in upholding national prosperity and house most of the jobs, the Philippines is at risk of becoming economically unstable, representing another reason that it is an interesting location for research.
The third dimension of the Future of Work is the need for appropriate skills for emerging jobs. This dimension is particularly important because it concerns how individuals are able to develop new skills to fit the jobs that will exist in the future (OECD, 2019). It is anticipated that people will require a range of human skills, from technological expertise to social and emotional capabilities, for emerging jobs (Fleming et al., 2017). As technologies advance, there is an increasing demand for higher-level skills (Sakamoto & Sung, 2018), as well as a shift from handling a single task to taking on additional and multiple tasks (Sakamoto & Sung, 2018). The demand for having the right skills for emerging jobs is therefore changing, and people are not trained in these skills especially in developing countries (Asian Bank, 2018) or in low-income and lower-middle-income countries (ILO, 2014). In developing countries, education and training often do not accord with the skills necessary for employment in the industry (Asian Bank, 2018), and the World Economic Forum believes that a lack of quality education is a reason why individuals do not have the right skills for jobs in the industry (Klosters, 2014). As a result, developing countries face a challenge in preparing a workforce with the right skills for jobs in the future.
One of the new ways in which people are gaining jobs is through the gig economy. The gig economy is defined as the phenomenon of organizations contracting with independent workers for short-term engagements (World Bank, 2019). Gig economies provide flexible, part-time, and temporary jobs for workers and allow workers to easily move from one “gig” to another. The gig economy is becoming a mega-trend in many developing economies and is overriding the traditional, fixed-contract type of jobs. This type of labor market development reflects the changing nature of the labor market and that individuals are working more flexibly. Examples of a gig economy include Uber and Airbnb. For this kind of work, adaptable and flexible skills are required, and employees have the advantage of becoming lifelong learners (World Bank, 2019). Against the backdrop of the Future of Work, the gig economy is a significant reflection of the changes occurring in the current and future labor market, and anticipating this type of labor market poses questions to how educational institutions aim to prepare future generations for flexible and rapidly changing jobs.
2.2 Employability
The way individuals gain and maintain jobs in the future is becoming a serious concern (Sakamoto & Sung, 2018). The idea that people must have certain skills to remain employable is referred to as employability and is a fundamental part of this research. Employability is defined as “the capability to move self-sufficiently within the labour market to realize potential through sustainable employment” (McQuaid & Lindsay, 2005). A person's employability is seriously challenged by the Future of Work, because the changing skill demands may hinder people from moving freely through the labor market (ILO, 2018). As described above, employees must have the appropriate skills for employment in a future with technology, because it helps prevent unskilled people from becoming jobless (OECD, 2017). Maintaining employability is an increasing concern for people in developing countries (Beerepoot & Hendriks, 2013). An abundance of research exists regarding the type of skills people need to become employable, and the following section discusses McQuaid and Lindsay’s conceptualization of employability, with their expertise providing valuable insight into the term.
As described by McQuaid and Lindsay (2005), the term employability is a broad concept that encompasses the individual, personal, and external factors that up a person’s ability to move through the labor market. The individual factors are explored more thoroughly in this thesis, as they concern individuals’ employability skills and attributes. Individual factors for employability are made up of different aspects, with the most relevant to the Future of Work being skills and attributes, because these include the skills required to move sustainably through the labor market. The elements that comprise this aspect include essential attributes, personal competencies, basic transferable skills, key transferable skills, high level transferable skills, qualifications, work knowledge base, and labor market attachment. The table below illustrates the contents of each of these attributes.
Table 2: Employability skills and attributes
Essential attributes Basic social skills; honesty and integrity; basic personal presentation; reliability; willingness to work; understanding of actions and consequences; positive attitude to work; responsibility; self- discipline
Personal competencies Proactivity; diligence; self- motivation; judgement; initiative; assertiveness; confidence;
acting autonomously
Basic transferable skills Prose and document literacy; writing; numeracy; verbal presentation
Key transferable skills Reasoning; problem-solving; adaptability; work-process management; teamwork; personal task and time management; functional mobility; basic information and communications technology skills; basic interpersonal and communication skills; emotional and aesthetic customer service skills
High level transferable skills Teamwork; business thinking; commercial awareness; continuous learning; vision; job-specific skills; enterprise skills
Qualifications Formal academic and vocational
Work knowledge base Qualifications; job-specific qualifications; work experience; general work skills and personal aptitudes; commonly valued transferable skills (such as driving); occupational specific skills.
Labor market attachment Current unemployment or employment duration; number and length of spells of unemployment or inactivity; balance of work history
Source: McQuaid & Lindsay (2005), p. 209–210.
The elements of individual employability as described by McQuaid and Lindsay share many of the same elements with the skills required for the Future of Work (ILO, 2018). With rapid changes occurring to the labor market as a result of technological advancement, certain skillsets are becoming more important than others, making upskilling a necessity for many employees today (ILO, 2014, ADB, 2014). For the individual, employability depends on the knowledge, skills and attitudes they possess, the way they use
those assets and present them to employers, and the context within which they seek work (Beerepoot & Hendriks, 2013; Hillage & Pollard, 1998). For the Future of Work, employability is important, because it focuses on the skills that are transferable across occupations that support the sustainability of lifelong learning from a skills-based perspective (Beerepoot & Hendriks, 2013).
For developing countries, the shift of focus from hard skills to interpersonal skills and competencies poses a challenge because many people must develop skills that are more advanced than those they already possess (ADO, 2018). The International Labor Organization believes that the way people work has a lot to do with the opportunities that are available for them to acquire and maintain relevant skills (ILO, 2010). In the global south, there are many challenges to acquiring and maintaining the skills necessary to maintain employability, largely due to low education levels and opportunities for growth (ILO, 2010). Because people in developing countries struggle to move freely through the labor market, the following research aims to further explore the concept of employability in this context.
2.3 Conceptual Scheme
The fundamental concepts of this research are the Future of Work and employability. The concepts are described in detail by sections 2.1 and 2.2 of this chapter but this section in particular organizes them into a comprehensible scheme. The conceptual scheme of this research demonstrates the interrelatedness of the concepts of the Future of Work and employability, and how they can be understood as a meaningful system of thought for this research. To understand the conceptual scheme a figure was created to illustrate the relation between the concepts (Figure 1). The conceptual scheme must be interpreted in the context dimension of the Future of Work that focuses on having the appropriate skills for emerging jobs. This is demonstrated by the grey backdrop of the visual aid in Figure 1. In this scheme, two boxes indicate the relationship between higher education (University) and the emerging jobs (industry). The right box, which represents higher education, encompasses all the necessary skills and attributes necessary for employability in the industry post-graduation. The left box, which represents emerging jobs in the industry, encompasses the jobs that make individuals employable. The arrow going from left to right indicates the flow of human capital moving from university to the industry. The arrow also demonstrates that the skills learned at university are utilized in jobs that students will expect in the industry. In sum, this conceptual scheme is a demonstration that the context of the Future of Work makes it imperative for students to capitalize on skills like problem solving, adaptability, teamworking, leadership, interpersonal and communication skills, continuous learning and enterprise skills, in order to become employable in the future.
Figure 1: The conceptual scheme of this research.
2.4 Operationalization
The operationalization of concepts are imperative to this research, because it sets indicators to measure that particular concept. This process takes multifaceted concepts and allows them to be measured in an empirical manner. The following research examined the concepts of the Future of Work, employability, and education, and outlined their dimensions and measurable indicators for this research. These are outlined in the Table 3 below. The concept of the Future of Work consists of three dimensions as described in Chapter 2.1 The dimension relevant for the current research is the one named appropriate skills for employment and its indicators are higher-levels skills and transferable skills. For employability, the dimension used for this research is employability skills and attributes and its indicators are problem solving skills, teamwork, and adaptability etc. The last concept is education in which higher education is the dimension imperative to this research. The measurable indicator is low-middle income university and high income university. Table 3 serves as a visual aid of the operationalization of concepts.
Table 3: The operationalization table of this research.
Concept Dimension Indicator
The Future of Work Risk of automation taking over
jobs High (routine tasks) vs. low (non-routine tasks) ease of automation
High (manually intensive skills) vs. low (cognitive-intensive skills) ease of complementarity Sector transformation Manufacturing sector
Service sector Appropriate skills for
employment Higher-level skills Transferable skills Employability Employability skills and
attributes Problem solving skills
Teamwork
Adaptability
Key transferable skills
High-level transferable skills
Qualifications
Work knowledge base
Education Tertiary education Low-middle income university High income university
Chapter 3 - Research Design
3.1 Location
3.1.1 General Description of the Philippines
The Philippines is an archipelago located in Southeast Asia, consisting of more than 7,100 islands. It is the 73rd largest country in the world by area and has a population of 98 million people. Manila is the capital, and nearby Quezon City is the most populous city, but both are part of the National Capital Region, called Metro Manila, which is made up of 16 cities including Makati, San Juan, and Pasay. In the sixteenth century, Spain colonized and ruled the Philippines, for 333 years, which has left the nation with many western and Spanish cultural influences. The U.S. colonization of the Philippines, 1898-1946, following the U.S. victory in the Spanish-American War, also explains western influence and the presence of English as an official language (Kramer, 2006). English is therefore an official language, and the population is predominantly Roman Catholic, one of only two countries in Asia with this characteristic (the other being East Timor). Despite these notable European characteristics, the Filipino people remain Asian in consciousness and aspiration (Berlaza and Cullinane, 2019). The Philippine economy is largely agricultural, but the manufacturing industry contributes approximately one-fourth of total GDP (Berlaza and Cullinane, 2019). In addition, the service sector is the principal component of the Philippine economy, contributing more than two-fifths of GDP and employing more than one-third of the country’s labor force (Berlaza and Cullinane, 2019). For this reason, the Philippines is an interesting area of study for this research on the Future of Work.
The current research aims to discover the impact of the Future of Work on higher education in the Philippines. Many countries could have been researched, because the Future of Work affects virtually all nations in the world. Nevertheless, the Philippines was selected as the most suitable research location wherein to conduct the following study because it is already experiencing challenges in matching young individuals’ education with the local labor market (Terrazola, 2018). This is called “the gap,” and it describes the difficulty experienced by higher education graduates in adapting to and meeting the demands of the labor market. Given that the Philippines finds already itself with the increasing gap as such, it becomes an interesting environment to research the problem of the Future of Work and how education is perceiving it and how they plan to adapt to it. The Philippines continues to have one of the
most underdeveloped education systems in Southeast Asia, and as a result, it is extremely relevant to this type of research (Pennington, 2017).
Figure 1. The blue line depicts a part of the University Belt in the city of Manila. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Belt#/media/File:University_Belt.JPG
The city of Metro Manila was selected as the city in which the research is carried out. While many cities hold multiple universities, Manila holds most of the country’s educational and political institutions, with many state universities and colleges and private institutions based in the city (Welle, 2013). Tertiary education institutions in Metro Manila include the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, which offers undergraduate and graduate education in arts and science, law, and business; the University of the Philippines, Manila, which is comprised of various colleges, including medicine, nursing, public health, pharmacy, and dentistry; the University of Santo Tomas, which is Asia’s oldest university and which offers a wide range of courses in the fields of architecture, engineering, business education, and education; and, finally, other tertiary educational institutions including the University of the Philippines, De La Salle University, the University of the East, Mapua Institute of Technology, and Asia Pacific College. Given that this research involves educational institutions as the primary source of data, Manila was the most suitable location for this project.
The University Belt is the unofficial name of a de facto district in Metro Manila referring to the area with a high concentration of colleges and universities (Leon, 2012). The University Belt is located in the San Miguel District, but it also includes the districts of Sampaloc, Quiapo, and Santa Cruz and includes the end of Espana Boulevard, Nicanor Reyes St., Claro M. Recto Avenue, Legarda Avenue, and Mendiola Street. Each college and university in this area is a short walking distance from the others. In addition, Manila also has several other concentrations of universities and colleges, one of which is found on Taft
Avenue from Ermita to Malate (Leon, 2012). All clusters are found within six kilometers of one another, making the University Belt (Figure 1, blue line) a suitable location for this research.
The current research took place in two of these universities in Metro Manilla, namely, Adamson University and De La Salle University. These two Universities were selected based on their rankings, with Adamson University possessing a medium quality of education and De La Salle University representing a more elite institution, as it is ranked as one of the highest tertiary education institutions in the Philippines (CHED, 2018). Only two universities were selected for the current research is due to a lack of monetary resources and time to travel to multiple locations within the city. The time provided to conduct the research was eight weeks, and two universities thus seemed sufficient. In addition, universities that differed in their ranking and status were carefully selected to provide a diversity of data and to compare the perspectives of two quite different universities, which is important due to the major wealth inequality in the Philippines.
3.1.2 Education in the Philippines
In addition to its geographical location in Southeast Asia, the Philippines was chosen to conduct this research because of its educational setting. In the Philippines, education is highly privatized, and the education system is divided based on socioeconomic status, with a school for each socioeconomic class, meaning that an individual’s educational level is predefined by his or her wealth. Access to education, the quality of education, and the conditions of learning are points of concern in the Philippines ("Education", 2019). Under the rule of the current president, Duterte, public education has been given more support; however, privatization schemes were created that shift money away from public schools and into private schools (Umil, 2019). In addition, the K–12 Basic Education Program school system has been implemented in recent years and aims to provide Filipino children with the chance to compete in a global context, and also to give Filipino students enough time to master skills and concepts so that they are prepared for tertiary education (ICEF, 2013). A major problem in the Filipino education system at the tertiary level is the mismatch between education and actual jobs in the industry. A source suggests that students post-graduation avoid low-wage jobs and would rather wait for an opportunity to emerge for which they are qualified, resulting in a large group of educated underemployed or unemployed individuals in the Philippines (Imba, 2018).
Given the educational situation in the Philippines, the country is an interesting location of study, and the manner in which universities respond to the Future of Work is a topic that has not yet been investigated,
perhaps because most research is carried out at the top based on government perceptions. Exploring how universities perceive the Future of Work serves as an indicator of how administrators and students truly respond to the Future of Work and employability, and this research aims to assess their responses, which might not be heard otherwise.
3.2 Epistemological stance
Given that the focus of the present research is on observing the responses of universities to the Future of Work and evaluating how these universities perceive student employability, this research uses a critical realist perspective, which suggests that knowledge exists independently of what individuals experience; however, to understand the reality as it is, the perceptions of individuals are evaluated, as they reflect reality (Fletcher, 2017). For this reason, the current research adopts a mixed-methods research method to gain a deeper understanding of the topic.
3.3 Participants
There are two groups of participants in this study: leaders in tertiary education and students. To clarify the types of participants of this research, the leaders of education are defined as individuals who are involved in the management and guidance of, as well as teaching and lecturing at, educational institutions. The students are simply the peers who are enrolled in a program at the institution to obtain a degree. The following section elaborates on these groups of participants.
Leaders in education consist of a variety of individuals with many different roles but who are, in essence, the faculty and management of the institution, such as (chief) school administrators, superintendents, professors, and teachers. Leaders of education were chosen as a participant type for this research because they are heavily involved in the trajectory of their educational institution and are the most informed individuals, who are able to provide the researcher with information about how their institution perceives the impact of the Future of Work and how they plan to adapt to it. Those who hold high positions such as chief school administrators and presidents of academic affairs play a decisive wrote in making executive decisions for the institution and are therefore the most knowledgeable on societal issues such as the Future of Work and how it impacts the institution. In addition, they are more likely to be concerned with the problem of the education-labor market mismatch and can therefore discuss the challenges of the Future of Work from an insightful perspective. Furthermore, the participants who are involved in curriculum planning and lecturing, such as academic professors and teachers, are also critical participants
in this study, as they play an active role in equipping students with the new skills that they may require. These are the individuals who might actually implement changes to the curriculum, and they have the most direct influence on the students’ education. Including lecturers and professors, in addition to high administrators, as participants in this study provides a vital perspective from the bottom of the institutional hierarchy, which is extremely important to this research.
Students are participants in this study because the researcher wanted to learn about and understand their perceptions of their university institution to provide insight on how students feel about the education– labor market mismatch and how effective they believe the institution is at combating this societal problem. In fact, the role of the university is not only to transmit knowledge to the students, but also to prepare them and offer career guidance. The student participants could be anybody enrolled at Adamson University and De La Salle University and were not limited to any year of study, students in an early year of study can have just as much insight on the university as older students, and the researcher deems both perceptions as equally valuable.
Both leaders and students were selected because the researcher wanted to obtain the largest variety of participants that was possible, because the Future of Work vis-à-vis education involves many actors on many levels. Examining this research problem on many levels in the hierarchy of educational institutions as well as their students enables data triangulation, which is valuable in conducting qualitative research because using more than one method of obtaining data helps to ensure the validity of the data collected during research.
3.4 Data Collection Method
The method of data collection for the current study is a qualitative method. A qualitative method is the most beneficial data collection method for an exploratory study of this type, as a qualitative method best captures the depth and the multiple dimensions of this study (Creswell et al, 2003; Tashakkori & Creswell, 2007). A quantitative method would not be able to capture the complexity of this study to the same extent. In addition, another reason that a qualitative data collection method complements this study is because it serves as a valuable, in-depth understanding of the true impacts of the Future of Work. These impacts occur on multiple levels and can be better understood by uncovering trends in thoughts and opinions. The qualitative data collection method was conducted through interviews, and the following section elaborates on how this was carried out.
The current study is based on semi-structured interviews with the participants, which were conducted to gain deeper insight into the research problem. Interviews were useful in helping the researcher to develop a comprehensive understanding of how individuals – both leaders in education and students – perceive the preparedness of their institution for the Future of Work and how their institution is addressing the phenomenon. The interviews were structured to start by asking a set of prepared guiding questions and to lead a discussion on each question to hear the thoughts and opinions of the participants. Semi-structured interviews allowed the participant to answer the questions subjectively and provided the flexibility to allow discussion tangential to the study topic. Semi-structured interviewing is the preferred method of data collection, because it promotes free thinking and conversation, while structured interviews, for instance, would limit the depth of discussion.
Twenty-three interviews were conducted, and one focus-group discussion was carried out. Of the 23 interviews, five were conducted at Adamson University, and the focus group discussion was conducted at the university as well. The remaining 18 interviews were conducted at De La Salle University. Of the 23 participants, 18 were leaders in education and five were students. The focus group discussion was conducted with five students. The interviews were carried out by arranging appointments with each given participant, and the interviews were then conducted in their respective offices or classrooms. All interviews and the focus group discussion were conducted in the universities.
In addition to data collection through semi-structured interviews, this study involved the collection of field notes in the form of a weekly documentation journal with two main features: the researcher’s weekly goals and the researcher’s actual weekly accomplishments, thereby documenting the activities, plans, remarks, and accomplishments related to fieldwork experience in Manila, Philippines. This format, which was used for the eight-week duration of the fieldwork, allowed the researcher to legibly demonstrate their intentions and plans, clearly broken down by week, making the groundwork visible. Additionally this format demonstrated the researcher’s progress over the 8 weeks, showing what was achieved each week and providing space for reflection on what can be improved in upcoming weeks. Finally, this journal was used to refer back to the details of the activities that may have been forgotten after returning from the fieldwork experience.
The field notes were collected to serve as a record of the weekly observations and findings during the research, as stated above, which was important because the field notes captured patterns and trends that were not recorded by the interviews, since the interviews pertained only to the guiding questions. The researcher, however, the researcher had many detailed experiences, observations, thoughts, and
reflections of the day-to-day events during the study that were best captured in a structured yet informal manner in the form of a diary. The field notes also include relevant photographs that help illustrate the interactions and locations of the fieldwork research.
3.5 Sampling
This research selected its samples from two universities, Adamson University and De La Salle University. At both research locations, the snowball sampling method was used, because it was the most convenient and efficient way to gather participants. From conversations with school administrators, academic professors, and other leaders of education, the participants enabled the researcher to find more research participants within the network. Obtaining the first point of contact was particularly for this type of research, because independent researchers do not have the same trustworthiness or reputation as researchers from a university. As a result, snowball sampling was the most suitable method for this research.
The participant criteria were leaders in education who play a decisive role in the development of the curricula of tertiary educational institutions and who are involved in the long-term trajectories of the institution. With this in mind, high-administration officials at both universities were contacted and asked to participate. In most cases, the secretary redirected the researcher to arrange a meeting with an administrator holding a high position. Once they accepted the request for an interview and a date was set for a meeting, the interviews took place and the data was collected.
Conducting interviews initially with high-administration officials such as the vice chancellor or president of academics was advantageous, because the credibility of their position made other participants more willing to participate in the research.
The students who were selected to participate were also gathered with the snowball sampling method, usually through the reference of a faculty member or a professor with personal rapport with the student. Once the first point of contact with one student was established, the rest of the participants were easy to gather. Students were much more willing to take part in this research and were much more available than their administrative counterparts. As a result, obtaining student interviews was easier than those of faculty, and all students had been interviewed within two days. The speed at which snowball sampling occurred with the students was catalytic and contributed greatly to the efficiency of the data collection.
The students’ friendliness, availability, and connectivity facilitated productive data collection and interviewing.
Table 3: The full list of interviewed participants is demonstrated below, with names remaining anonymous.
1 Vice president of
academics Female Thurs, February 21 Adamson University, Manila 2 Outcome-based education
(OBE) expert Male Tues, February 26 Adamson University, Manila 3 Dean of the college of
engineering Female Wed, February 27 Adamson University, Manila 4 Dean of the college of
education and liberal arts Female Wed, February 27 Adamson University, Manila 5 Dean of the college of
engineering Male Fri, March 1 De La Salle University, Manila 6 Professor of the languages
department & OBE expert Female Thurs, March 7 Adamson University, Manila 7 Chair of the college of
civil engineering Female Fri, March 8 De La Salle University, Manila 8 Chair of the college of
industrial engineering Female Mon, March 11 De La Salle University, Manila 9 Chair of the
manufacturing, engineering &
management department
Male Mon, March 11 De La Salle University, Manila
10 Chair of the electronics and engineering department
Male Tues, March 12 De La Salle University, Manila
11 Chair of the political
science department Male Tues, March 12 De La Salle University, Manila 12 Chair of the international
studies department Female Wed, March 13 De La Salle University, Manila 13 Chair of the
communications department
Male Thurs, March 14 De La Salle University, Manila
14 Chair of counseling and the educational
psychology department
Female Thurs, March 14 De La Salle University, Manila
15 Assistant dean of the chemical engineering department
Female Fri, March 15 De La Salle University, Manila
17 Vice chancellor for research and innovation, professor of chemical engineering
Male Fri, March 15 De La Salle University, Manila
16 Student Male Fri, March 15 De La Salle University,
Manila 18 Chair of the behavioral
sciences department Female Mon, March 18 De La Salle University, Manila
19 Student Male Tues, March 19 De La Salle University,
Manila
20 Student Male Tues, March 19 De La Salle University,
Manila
21 Student Male Tues, March 19 De La Salle University,
Manila
22 Student Female Tues, March 19 De La Salle University,
Manila
23 Student Male Tues, March 19 De La Salle University,
Manila
In addition, one focus group discussion was carried out at Adamson University with several students. This focus group consisted of five students, three female and two male, and it occurred on Thursday, March 7th. This focus group discussion was centered around student perception of the Future of Work and their perception of how they perceive their preparation for employability in the future.
3.6 Data Analysis
Given that this research is an exploratory study, it investigates a problem that has not yet been clearly studied. In fact, to the best of the researcher’s knowledge, no research has yet been conducted on the response of educational institutions in the Philippines to the Future of Work. Therefore, this research aims to develop a deeper understanding of the impact of the Future of Work from an educational perspective.
This is carried out through qualitative data analysis in the form of conducting interviews, collecting data, and analyzing this data by combining themes and thought patterns seen in the interviews.
The interviews in the current research were voice recorded in order to maintain a record of them. The transcribing process involved the word-for-word translation of the voice recordings, which was helpful in the following process of in depth data analysis. Consequently, the research underwent an analytic process in which concepts in the observed data were coded into meaningful themes according to their properties and characteristics. Patterns of thought and opinions on certain subjects are amalgamated to form conclusions and answer the research questions. This type of data analysis is inductive.
3.7 Ethics and Positionality
Before and during the fieldwork research, it was the researchers priority that every step in the research process be conducted in an ethical manner, with a firm emphasis placed on safety, consent, confidentiality, and trust. Even though the nature of the research did not encompass sensitive and vulnerable subjects, it was still vital to the quality of the research that it be carried out as ethically as possible.
In terms of voluntary participation, each participant was contacted via email or phone to ask whether they would like to participate in the research. The email carefully explained the research purpose was and the value the participant would add value. The steps of the interview process were also explained so that they knew in advance what to expect once they agreed to take part. The interview process would only proceed once the participants replied that they would like to take part, which ensured that all participants were involved on a voluntary basis. In terms of informed consent, verbal informed consent was obtained from each participant during the fieldwork. The consent process included the elements of full disclosure of the nature of the research and the participants’ involvement therein, comprehension on the part of the potential participant, and the participant’s voluntary choice to participate.
In terms of safety, all interviews were conducted in university offices, which included no safety hazards. Across all entrances of both universities were security that conducted individual checks for each person entering the premises. The nature of this research was not unsafe; therefore, more elaboration about safety is unnecessary. In terms of confidentiality, each participant was informed that their information would not be shared with other parties, and that it would be used solely for my research purpose.
While sensitive or vulnerable elements were not part of my research, trust remained an important part of the interviews. It was important for the researcher to build a good relationship with the participants based on trust, because the interview process had to be professional and the interviews taken seriously, which required a trusting relationship between the two parties. Furthermore, it was important for the participant to trust that the researcher would use their information only for research purposes and nothing else.
In terms of positionality, all efforts were made to delineate the researchers’ own position in the research. Even though the topics discussed during the interviews were not controversial in their nature, it was still ensured that the researcher kept a neutral and open stance on the subjects mentioned. For example, the researcher created open-ended interview questions that were phrased neutrally so that the opinion of the researcher would not color the phrasing and prompt certain answers. This allowed the participants to freely share their own thoughts and opinions.
The current research was conducted ethically, with no unsafe or involuntary participation and with all steps in the research process carried out carefully and professionally. In the research process, the researcher did not run into any major ethical concerns, which suggests that no ethical standards were breached during the fieldwork. In addition, the positionality of the researcher was kept as neutral and unobtrusive as possible, so that the respondents did not note a biased position in any discussion with the researcher.
3.7.1 Trustworthiness
In terms of credibility, I was able to gather interviews from varying leaders of education from different levels, as well as students. The sample can be divided into five levels: heads of academics, deans of colleges, program coordinators, lecturers, students. This provides a variety of data sources, suggesting that the research has good internal validity. This type of validity allows the data to be compared to highlight consistencies and inconsistencies in the understanding of the issue that is determined in this research. This strengthens the quality of the research. A limitation, however, is that it was not feasible to obtain an interview with the commission of higher education (CHED), which would have added an extra dimension to the data by illuminating whether the responses are the same at even higher levels in the education system in the Philippines. Unfortunately, despite numerous requests, CHED officials were unable to spare time for interviews.
In terms of transferability, the data collection maintained a thick description, providing a robust and detailed account of the research experience via the fieldwork journal. The type of data collected was not sensitive or vulnerable information, and the interviewees were thus straightforward in their answers regarding perceptions of the impact of the Future of Work in the Philippines. Due to these aspects, this research can be easily replicated in other countries where the Future of Work may pose a risk to future employability. This research could be replicated in developed countries as well. This research thus possesses strong external validity.
In terms of dependability, the current research has voice recordings of all twenty three interviews and the focus group discussion. Detailed fieldwork notes were also recorded on a weekly based, providing information on the fieldwork experience and interactions that occurred between interviews. This contributes to the trustworthiness of the research.
In terms of confirmability, the researcher entered the field with an objective mindset, simply because this was a new topic to the researcher and because it was exploratory in nature, with no specific ends being aimed for. In addition, due to the fact that the current research problem did not carry any controversial baggage, there was no feeling on the part of the researcher that personal feelings or opinions colored the findings. Therefore, the research was quite objective and with a high confirmability.
3.7.1 Authenticity
In terms of fairness, I conducted 23 interviews and one focus group discussion from various levels in the university education system, thereby ensuring that different groups were heard in the interview process in the social context of the universities. However, as mentioned, it would have been valuable to have interviewed an individual from the CHED to document a government perspective. Thus, fairness could have been stronger in this research.
In terms of ontological authenticity, the researcher aimed to introduce a new dialogue on the impact of the Future of Work for leaders of education in the Philippines. While many individuals were already aware of this issue and part of this dialogue, many of the interviews sparked the interest of some individuals who had not previously considered this phenomenon. This was particularly the case in the lower-level institution, Adamson University. Therefore, this research was therefore able to bring something to light that had otherwise not been explored.
In terms of educative authenticity, this research will definitely help people in the social setting of study to appreciate the perspectives on different levels, as it discusses the differences in perspective of the impact of the Future of Work and its influence on education in the Philippines.
In terms of catalytic authenticity, the current research has raised some interest and impetus from several individuals to engage in action to change their circumstances, especially those in administrative positions, because they now see the impact that the Future of Work has on employability. Otherwise, however, this impetus remains low with most individuals on the lecturer level, because they refuse to relinquish traditional teaching styles. In addition, due to the fact that the government has tight control of the universities’ trajectories, it is almost impossible to take significant action to change current circumstances.
In terms of tactical authenticity, this research has not empowered members to take the steps necessary to engage in action. This, again, is due to the top-down educational system that exists in the Philippines, which makes it difficult for individuals at the bottom to enact change.
In conclusion, given the time and resources that were available for this research, a reasonably high quality has been achieved. After reflecting on the methodology, the researcher believes that the research is reliable and valid, as it demonstrates high trustworthiness and good authenticity. Even though it has some limitations, there are mostly strengths of the methodology, and it could be easily replicated in other settings.
Chapter 4 – Empirical Results
The universities in which this research was conducted, Adamson University and De La Salle University (DLSU), are two well-known tertiary educational institutions in Metro Manila. Adamson University is a private Catholic University run by the Venetian Fathers that caters mainly to middle-income students and contains 16,000 students. Its reputation is based on its charitable nature and that it admits students from families with low socioeconomic backgrounds. De La Salle University is a private research university that favors high-income students and has a student population of 20,000. In the official Philippine ranking of universities by the CHED, DLSU is ranked third in the country (CHED, 2018). Its reputation is based on its elitist status and the high quality of education that it offers (Di Gropello, 2012). De La Salle University is also considered a “center of excellence” according to CHED and maintains prestige on a national and international level. The empirical results of this research found that the two universities had different responses to the Future of Work. Based on 23 interviews from both universities, the findings suggest that each university perceives the concept of the Future of Work differently and holds different positions regarding its relevance to society. The main difference was that DLSU saw the Future of Work as an opportunity, whereas Adamson University saw it more as a challenge. De La Salle University demonstrated an action-oriented approach, whereas Adamson University demonstrated a more passive one. In addition to these differing perspectives, both universities have indicated ways in which they plan to improve student employability. The specific skills to improve student employability that receive the most attention are groupwork and communication skills in an overall student-centered environment at DLSU, and active involvement in extracurricular activities; the focus of Adamson University is on early exposure to the international atmosphere and entrepreneurship. Despite the fact that both universities are acting upon these elements in the interest of the employability of their students, the findings of this research suggest that employability in the face of the Future of Work as explored by this thesis continues to pose a serious challenge to university students in the Philippines. At Adamson University, international experience is seen more as a crucial element because it can help students find employment abroad, whereas at DLSU, the university makes promises regarding the future of their students rather than actually developing skills necessary to be employed in the Future of Work. Both of these perceptions are antithetical to employability in the Future of Work. Finally, the way students perceive their preparation for employability in the Future of Work is different between universities, which essentially also indicates the universities do not prepare students for employability as much as they appear to. Students at Adamson University believe that they are being prepared for employment abroad because they will have more opportunities in other countries, whereas students at DLSU understand their preparation for employability to not be based on skill development but on university ranking. Both institutions have different
