Motivational Factors that Influence High School Students of Cabuyao to Enter the Work Force

Abstract

The Ladies Circle of the Rotary of Cabuyao set up a project to provide incentives to high school graduates to enroll in college. This has been on-going for several years now. The project is geared towards encouraging public high school graduates to enter college. Considering the industrialization of Laguna as part of CALABARZON, and proliferation of numerous factories in Cabuyao, most families can afford college education for their children. However, this civic organization found out that still, most high school graduates do not go to college anymore but work immediately as apprentices, messengers, laborers and other unskilled assignments. Through Career Orientation Seminars, the Club tried to encourage high school graduates to go to college and finish a course that will lift their standard of living. Rotarians admit that, so far, their Project has not shown any sign of success. More and more high school graduates still enter the labor force. To respond to the Rotarians' problem, the researcher looked at the possible factors why most young people of Cabuyao do not go to college. For Cabuyao's students, college education is not as expensive as before, particularly now that the colleges are already near, hence no need to spend for board and lodging. The parents, for their part, have steady source of income, not only as workers in the factories, but by being self employed tricycle drivers and sari-sari store operators. Setting aside financial reasons, the researcher focused on what motivation provides disincentive to the pursuit of college education. The researcher hoped to find clarification on the role of self-esteem and need for recognition in influencing the high school graduate to forego college. Once these disincentives were identified, the researcher formulated specific recommendations to counteract them. The Conceptual and Operational Framework is based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs that categorized human motivations into five (5) levels. The most basic are the Physiological Needs that include food, shelter and clothing. Next comes Safety Needs which include physical safety and security. The third level is Social Needs that involve belongingness and love and interactions of individuals with each other. Esteem is the next level, where one's actuations are geared to earning recognition. Finally, at the highest level is Self-Actualization, where an individual aspires to develop his fullest potential. As each level is attained, the individual is motivated to aspire to the next level. Alderfer's ERG Theory was also referred to, which reclassified needs into three: Existence Needs that include food, clothing and shelter; Relatedness Needs which represent desire for relationships with family, friends and co-workers; and Growth Needs that relate to creativity and productivity, A Descriptive-Exploratory Approach was used in the Research Design to isolate determining factors for the study. Interviews were conducted in several factories where high school graduates were employed. The data showed that majority of these young workers did not come from impoverished families. Their parents are either dressmakers, jeepney and school bus drivers, or even teachers. Thus, financial reasons for not going to college are not considered. Respondents of the research were 4th year students of Cabuyao National High School who were given questionnaires on Self-Esteem. An Interview with the Guidance Counselor of CNHS (Cabuyao National High School) was also conducted to get the point of view of the teaching staff A Focus Group Discussion was held with randomly picked 4th year students. Although the typical senior high school student is already urbanized and with high self-esteem, it was found by the researcher that he is discouraged by the fact that he could not enter prestigious schools. And so, he opts to immediately apply for a job, reasoning that even if he graduates from some obscure college, when job hunting comes, applicants from the prestigious schools will ease him out. He concludes that having a high school diploma and landing a job, then helping his younger brother or sister finish high school, are accomplishments enough worthy of recognition. He will be staying in his own community, with his family, near his friends and co-workers. This is much better than go to some obscure college where he will just be a faceless stranger. Furthermore, while parents dream of their child becoming a lawyer, doctor or engineer, what interests the high school graduate may be drastically different, such as becoming a painter or a dance choreographer. The appeal of college education is not strong enough. Self-esteem worked negatively in so far as Cabuyao's high school graduates are concerned. From the response to the questionnaire and the interview, they appeared self-confident and well informed, but they will not insist on choosing their own careers if their parents desire another. They would rather lower their satisfaction needs from self-actualization and esteem to mere belongingness and love which can be derived if he remains in his community, working at a nearby factory, close to his family and friends. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher has certain specific recommendations in mind. There must be an overhaul of the curriculum in the primary, intem1ediate and high school level. Professional educators must monitor the student's performance on all levels and once in high school, there need be only four or five major subjects to be taken found consistent with the particular student's record. This will allow the students much needed free time to balance his concentrated schooling with other subjects and activities of interest to him, similar to what in college are classified electives. Limiting high school subjects will also permit the maximum use of school facilities, as there may be three (3) sessions of morning, afternoon and evening classes. Civic organizations like the Rotary need not insist in requiring a choice between college and working. In their Career Orientation Seminars, the pride of being a working student may be emphasized, as there are hundreds of famous Filipinos who took this route to success. It will be better also to include the parents in the seminars, for as noted in the research, parents sometimes provide disincentive for their children to go to college. Since it will require passage of law to overhaul our educational system and provide the needed funds, which will take some time, what the Rotary and other such organizations may do is to support a career identification monitoring system to be implemented from 1st year high school, so that by 4th year high school, students will have a definite direction in mind insofar as higher education is concerned. U.P., being the standard by which the level of education of other schools is judged, its high standards must filter down to the provincial level by establishing at least one ( l) U.P. college in each of the provinces. The necessary funding to implement the recommendations may be derived from assessments on the top 500 Philippine corporations to establish an Education and Career Development Fund. These participating companies must sign an undertaking to take in as preferred employees the students upon their college graduation. Since parents will be deprived of the income a working child would have earned had there been no college schooling, Vouchers may be issued to them by the participating company, which can be used exclusively for their hospitalization and food requirements, chargeable to whatever salaries the child will earn upon graduation and employment. Finally, it is recommended that further studies be made on how motivations could be ingrained in the youth, elevating their self-esteem and creating in them the impetus to finish college, setting their sight to the highest level of needs, called Self-actualization Needs in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, or Creativity and Productivity Needs in Alderfer's Theory.