Factors Influencing Employment of Female Graduates of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Program in the Philippines

Abstract

Unemployment has been a long-standing problem in many countries, including the Philippines, and the recent pandemic even worsened the economic conditions of Filipinos with a large part of the population losing their jobs. One way to create more platforms that will enable the employability of the population is through the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) program, whose goal is to produce middle- and high-skilled graduates ready to take on the demands of the rapidly changing economy. With the current gender gap in terms of employment, this study focuses on the employment status of female graduates of TVET and the possible factors that influence the employment of Filipino female TVET graduates were determined. The survey data collected by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in 2018 for their employability study of 2017 women TVET graduates was utilized in this study. Binary Firth logistic regression models were fitted on subpopulations of TVET female graduates who were employed before and after training. Results have shown a significant increase in the proportion of employed women after graduation, which was indicated in the estimates before and after the training. Among the unemployed Filipino female before the training, more than half of them (52%) were employed after the training. Age, education, region, and reasons for taking up a program showed to be determinants of the employability of female TVET graduates. The factors that hinder women from entering employment despite their TVET training is the primacy of their household and family duties. Their choice or nature of programs shows that women take stereotypical roles associated with women, an issue that is still present today because of prevailing traditional gender norms. With the huge decline in economic activities brought by the pandemic, the results of this study will be particularly important in creating more and better employment opportunities for Filipino women.