La Consolacion College Caloocan

496 A. Mabini St. 10th Ave. Caloocan City

PAASCU Accredited Level II

Senior High School Department

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Strand

“Motivating Factors that Influence Senior

High Students in Choosing STEM Strand”

A Research Report Presented to the Faculty of

The Senior High School of La Consolacion College – Caloocan

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Practical Research 2

Submitted by:

Michelle Ann Baysa

Harvey Vanessa Danielle Tobias

September 13, 2017

INTRODUCTION

Philippines, together with other countries like Angola and Djibouti, left to have only 10-

year educational system. For the past 66 years, from 1945-2011, basic education in the

Philippines will only took ten years to complete. It includes six years in elementary and four

years in high school education. The government thought of a way in which students can be

competent and competitive enough with other countries. They prolong the number of years to

take up in BED from years to 12 years, calling it as the K-12 Program of the Department of

Education (DepEd).

The K to 12 Program covers Kindergarten and 12 years of basic education – six years of

primary education, four years of Junior High School, and two years of Senior High School (SHS)

– to provide sufficient time for mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and

prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and

entrepreneurship (GovPh). This program was implemented in the Philippines last May 15, 2013,

signed by the former President Benigno Aquino III as the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013

for the school year 2013-2014 onwards.

In Kindergarten, children are taught about basic knowledge like alphabets, numbers,

shapes, and color in a way that their attention will be caught like songs, games and using their

mother tongue as medium of teaching. According to a research, teaching and exposing children

to learning in an early age will help them to be more proficient enough in the future. (K TO 12

TOOLKIT, 2012). In Elementary education, pupils are taught about early mathematics, very

basic reading skills and proper social skills. Also, they taught how to build their confidence and
create a positive view of the world and themselves. In this education, they also taught how to

deal with their own responsibilities during their school days and they know how to socialize with

other people. (Sokanu). In Junior High School, this starts in the 7th grade to 10th grade. This is

the crucial stage of their development – just entering their adolescence. You encounter them

between 11 and 17 years old, important ages when things begin to change, both inside and

around them. The academic subjects of Junior High School begin to evolve into the “separate

subject model” of high school, where each subject becomes its own discipline taught by a teacher

who specializes in that field. However, subjects aren’t completely separated in Junior High

School. Rather, classes are usually centered around themes that tie subjects together so they are

not as generalized as in elementary school, but not as segregated as in high school. (2U Inc.,

2017).

Most of the students are not yet ready in entering college because they don’t have any

ideas on what college looks like or what course should they pursue. Fortunately, DepEd

implement K12 program that will serve as the preparation for college and will equip learners

with skills that will better prepare for the future. Senior High School covers eight (8) learning

areas as part of its core curriculum, and adds specific tracks (similar to college courses) based on

four (4) disciplines: Academic (which includes Accounting and Business Management (ABM),

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) , Humanities & Social Science

(HUMSS), and a General Academic Strand (GAS)) Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (includes

Home Economics (HE) and Information Communication Technology (ICT)) Sports, Art and

Design. Students may pick a track based on how he or she wants to pursue after high school

graduation. (DepEd) Most of the students, cannot decide on what he or she will choose in Senior

High because they are not yet fully inform of what Senior High is.
 The researchers have observed that a lot of students wanted to choose STEM strand. With

this, the researchers wanted to study the different motivating factors that influenced the Senior

High Students of La Consolacion College in Choosing STEM Strand.

This study generally aims to determine the different motivating factors that the Senior High

School students consider in choosing STEM strand.

Specifically, this study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What are the socioeconomic profile of the Senior High School students in terms of:

a. Age;

b. Gender;

c. Stand;

d. Parent’s Educational Attainment;

e. Parent’s Occupation?

2. What are the motivating factors that influence SHS in choosing STEM Strand?

a. Personality;

b. Family/Relatives;

c. Interests;

d. Career Opportunities?

3. How do these factors affect the students’ personal choices?

4. Why do students choose STEM Strand?

5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having these factors?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Results of this study will be beneficial to the following:

academic curriculums and platforms to offer to Senior High School students.

School Administrators may find it significant to intensify the implementation and

monitoring of an existing reading program. Acquisition of new reading materials in the library

might be considered to add resources for reading.

Other Future Researchers could possibly use this research as a reference for their own

study and research that they may conduct in the future.

Public and Private Schools can gain information from this research about what

educational services and courses to offer. They can also use this as a base on how to improve the

academic skills and performance of their students.

Teachers play a big role in developing students’ goal in the future that is why this study

can be a help to them on what to impart and what to teach to students.

Using this research, Guidance Counselors can broaden and open the mind of students

regarding the appropriate and suitable career to choose and get in the future based on their

choice.

Parents might find this study beneficial for understanding and learning more about their

children in connection with their children’s desired profession and career choice.

The Students, most especially the Senior High School students, will benefit the most

from this research. This study can help them realize what they really want in the future or what

career to pursue. This can also guide them on what appropriate factor to consider in choosing the

right profession to aim.

This study conducted to determine the different motivating factors that can influence

Senior High School Students in choosing STEM Strand at La Consolacion College Caloocan.

There were 250 Senior High School students that included in this study. These students

were enrolled in La Consolacion College Caloocan from Grade 11 and Grade 12 Students of the

Academic Year 2017-2018.

Parents, Teachers, Guidance Counsellors, Elementary and Junior High School Students are not

included in this study. This study will conduct before October 2017 at La Consolacion College

Caloocan.

The researchers will prepare a questionnaire that will be answer by Grade 11 and Grade

12 students regarding the topic that they have chosen.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Interests – these are the qualities or things that attract one’s attention and make him/her

want to learn more about something or to be engaged in something.

K 12 Program - is the newly implemented educational system in the Philippines where

in it covers Kindergarten and 12 years of basic education to provide sufficient time for mastery

of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners and prepare graduates for tertiary education,

middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.

consideration in choosing STEM as their strand.

Opportunities – these are favorable juncture of circumstances. In this study,

opportunities would refer to the circumstances favorable employment or pursuing a career, e.g.

location, trends, high pay, etc.

Personality - it refers to the desired careers that the children want to be upon becoming

adults.

Senior High School - is the second part of secondary education under the K-12 program,

wherein the students would take up the subjects under their career pathway specialization.

Senior High School Students – these are the students who are studying at La

Consolacion College-Caloocan for the Academic Year 2017-2018.

STEM – stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics strand under the

Academic Track of the K 12 Program.

REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

A recent study by the students of Don Bosco Technology Center entitled ‘Factors

Affecting Senior High School Track Preferences of Grade 9 Students of Don Bosco Technology

Center, Inc. Academic Year 2014-2015’ enumerated the different factors that influences the

Senior High School track preferred by the Grade 9 students of Don Bosco Technological Center

namely; Personality, Family, Interests, and Career Opportunities.

Personality

An article posted by Adecco UK (2015) states that it is important to find out what type of

worker an individual is with the increasing of employers utilizing personality and psychometric

testing procedures to determine the employee’s attributes beyond qualifications. It is also stated in

the article that “choosing a job to which an individual is inherently suited –rather than just able to

convince the interviewer that he/she is interested in the position – will make him/her a happier,

more productive employee.”

There are many strategies for assessing persona type, and the most common is the

RIASEC version of the psychologist John L. Holland (Holland, 1973), that's developed from his

concept which postulates that human beings venture self- and world-of-work perspectives onto

occupational titles and make career choices that satisfy their preferred personal orientations

primarily based on the idea that personality factors. Holland’s model constitutes of six basic

personality types, namely: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and

Conventional. From the six, the model affords the opportunity of 720 specific persona patterns.
The consequences will show the dispositions of a person to lean closer to a specific type of

persona, which would provide a list of careers that might fit the person best.

Another study that establishes the influence of personality on career choice is of Dr.

Claudia Harzer and companions of University of Zurich (Harzer, et.al, 2012), which focuses on

the character strengths of an individual and how it affects their career. From interviews of over

1,000 working people, their study reveals that the degree of positive experiences increases with

the number of personal character strengths, or so-called “signature strengths”, applied at work.

This would imply that understanding what roles a person are best suited to base on his/her

personality is what will make him/her the most happy at work.

Splaver stated (1977) it is important for students to have a good understanding of

themselves, their personality if they are to make intelligent career plans. What they would like to

be, and what they are like, are determining factors in their career. The personality factors to be

considered include their mental abilities, special abilities, and interests. Splaver (1977, p.13)

considered factors of mental abilities to be “verbal comprehension, word fluency ability, spatial

ability, numerical ability, reasoning ability, and memory.” Splaver matched careers with abilities

in backing up her reasoning. She urged students to become familiar with their personality in order

to guide their career choice. A developed career plan included evaluation of personality through

self-assessment, and communication with others, another trait that depended heavily on

personality, according to Harris and Jones (1997). Self-knowledge is shown to be a domain with

many pathways (Anderson, 1995). In this domain, self-knowledge is the first of three integral

competency areas stated in the National Career Development Guideline (National Commission

Site, 1989).
 There have been many examples to describe the process of self-knowledge. One example

would be a student’s critical look at life’s experiences to enhance their self-knowledge. Another

example would be students using problem-based learning to gain insight into self-knowledge

(Lankard/Brown, 1996) a). Self -knowledge has been pivotal in career development. There have

been numerous career clusters, as well as career clashes, that coincide with abilities. The student

should become knowledgeable in these areas while searching for career interests. Once a career

has been narrowed down, personality has played a role in obtaining and keeping employment in

the field of choice. Attitudes used in interviews, along with compatible methods of working

within teams and alongside co-workers have depended upon the right personality. Once a career

has been secured, ambition and sincerity, along with promotions may determine an employee’s

future.

Personality, the need for the student to have left a favorable impression, is an important

issue during the interview process, prior to being offered a career position. Personality has been a

tough quality for parents and teachers to mold into the individual especially if the career in

question is not in agreement with the student. In addition, contacts are a major job seeking

method. The student’s personality must match the criteria for their chosen career. It is helpful to

consider the attitudes people hold about themselves when choosing a career (Kroll et al., 1970).

Attitudes about personality have been organized into consistent modes of thinking, feeling and

reacting to evaluation of our environment.

Personality is defined as the collection or impressions in the appearance of the student’s

body and the impressions believed to have been made on others, good or bad. These impressions

form the cognition or the understanding in dealing with persons and things. What makes up the
cognitive map or personality may never be fully known. Everyone shares some factors or

constructs. These constructs are personality traits that become valuable when choosing a career.

The environment, such as our formal education has played a major role in the formation of

constructs. Organizations of personality constructs are evident in three situations. First, the

individual sees the factors that could potentially change personality. Second, only certain

environmental factors impinge upon the individual. These environmental factors enter into the

ideas that the individual has had about themselves. Third, of all the factors that enter into the

cognizance, only a few are perceived, and even those may be distorted or altered to fit the

requirements needed to fulfill the comfort limits of our reality.

Family/Relatives

When talking about factors that influence a student’s choice in choosing a career, it is

immediately assumed by everyone that the top Influencer would be their family. A survey

conducted by GTI Media revealed that out of 3000 students who took part of the

survey, 66% thought that being influenced by their parents when planning for their career was

right, while only 7% thought it was wrong.

According to Michelle Ong, in a paper in 2000, the family is also perceived to be an

important aspect of the Filipino’s life as happiness is closely associated with a harmonious family

situation. As a sign of respect, Filipino children want to do well for the sake of the family, follow

parents’ advice about choosing a job or major in college and lastly, make sacrifices for the family

(Finlayson, 2009).

Jobs are sometimes rooted in family tradition and expectations. Many jobs that young

people want do not compare to the job they actually get. Super states that it is better to treat this as

the discrepancy between aspiration and achievement. In that arena, parents tend to try and
influence their children to get a better job and have a better life than they have. This would be

especially true among semi-skilled and unskilled workers and their children. The self-

improvement tradition goes back to the Fifteenth Century that immigrants would leave their

homes in order to seek a better life. An important manifestation of that era meant leaving home or

having to move to another community and leave one’s kin. In today’s world, one leaves one’s

home to attend school, and then to pursue career opportunities which are better than those found

at home. When one moves up in the socioeconomic world today, it is only human to expect others

to value that which one values themselves. Our parents feel their career goals worthy, and in most

cases will expect their children to follow suit. Thus a student, who has no value in education, in

order to raise themselves above their parent’s level, will likely be viewed as ungrateful by their

parents (Super, 1957). In those cases, the student needs to have found a job/career that started

where their parent’s level of ability has left off. When education, skill, abilities, and interests have

not lead to the same level of income producing jobs, the discrepancy between aspiration and

achievement has become a sore issue.

A previous study by Abarro (2014) revealed that the occupation of the head of the family

is a huge influence in the grade nine students’ in the Division of Antipolo and Rizal choice of

strand. To prove this, an article written by Mcquerrey (nd), states that:

Many children grow up idealizing the professions of their parents. If you always

looked up to your mother and admired her teaching skills that may influence you

to pursue a career in education. Parents may also intentionally or unintentionally

push a child toward a particular career path, especially in the cases of family-

owned businesses, where parents expect their children to take over the company.
 Still, other parents apply pressure on their offspring to strive for particular high-

profile careers, feeling they are encouraging their children to reach high.

For practicality reasons, it is also reported that parents usually encourage careers that will

not cost much money, but at the same time, are stable sources of income. Careers in nursing,

accounting, and engineering are highly popular for Filipino families (Saysay, 2011).

A study by students from the College Department of Don Bosco Technology Center

(2015) showed that the students are fully aware that their own families would support him on

their chosen career got the rank 1 which means this factor influenced the student’s choice of track.

On the contrary, the students who participated in the survey do not fully believe that their

family/relatives are the ones responsible to choose a career for them.

Even though schools, peers, and the student‘s community all have an impact on the

young adult‘s self-identity and career choice, the parent‘s expectations and perceptions of

vocational fit for their children have been found to be the key roles in shaping their career choices

(Ferry, 2006).

Interests

Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) grounded in Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive

theory and explores how career and academic interests mature, how career choices are developed,

and how these choices are turned into action. This is achieved through a focus of three primary

tenets: self-efficacy – beliefs people have about their ability to successfully complete the steps

required for a give task, outcome expectations – beliefs related to the consequences of performing

a specific behavior, and goals – decisions to begin a particular activity or future plan (Lent et al.,

1994).
 With the help of SCCT interest model, it was discovered that Individuals form lasting

interests in activities when they confidently view themselves as competent at it and when they

anticipate that performing it will produce valued outcomes. In other words, as people develop an

affinity for an activity at which they feel efficacious and expect positive outcomes, they form

goals for sustaining or increasing their involvement in that activity.

Job Opportunities

Years back, in the Philippines, most students dreamt of working abroad. This was proven

by the number of registered Philippine nurses in 2012. Nursing was viewed as a passport out of

poverty for many. Job opportunities for nurses in the western countries were booming during the

late 90’s and early 2000’s. This lead students into choose nursing as their course. But since it

would take years before they become a registered nurse, their dreams of working abroad turned

sour. At the beginning of 2012, there were more than 200,000 registered nurses who couldn’t

find work, and an estimated 80,000 were supposed to graduate later that year to join the already

saturated job market. (BBC News, 2012)

According to Rappler, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has released the

top 10 in demand yet hard-to-fill occupations from 2013-2020. These careers are in-demand

because of the high number of job vacancies while ‘hard-to-fill occupations’ are occupations that

companies find difficult to fill up due to the lack of applicants and proper qualifications. The in

demand occupations are the following: Doctors, Engineers, Accountants, Computer

Programmers, Web developers, Draftsman, Animators, Agriculturists, Electricians, and

Teachers.
Synthesis

With all these related literatures combined, the researchers have arrived with a synthesis.

A lot of students nowadays consider these factors to be motivating for them to choose a certain

track—specifically, the STEM strand. There are lots of advantages when considering these

factors namely, they will be able to enjoy their chosen strand for they have interest for it and

their personality is suitable for it. When it comes to the family, they will be able to bring joy to

their families once they considered their family’s preferred career for them. Lastly, when it

comes to Job opportunities, they’ll be able to earn right after they graduate if they have chosen a

career that is in line with the in demand occupations.

On the other hand, there are also disadvantages when it comes to considering these

factors. If for example, a student who has the personality and interest for a said course and their

family is not well of nor are supportive, they might end up shifting due to their family’s

situation. While as for the Job opportunities, people tend to take up course which are in demand

during their schooling years. This might result to the problem that the registered nurses during

2012 went through.

METHODOLOGY

This chapter includes the research design and also the methodology used to conduct this

study. It incorporates the sampling technique, sources of information, the research subjects,

population of the study, the instrument utilized to collect information, as well as the statistical

tools used in processing the data. This chapter shows how the researchers came to the required

data for this study, and how these data were analyzed, interpreted and presented in the easiest

method possible.

RESEARCH DESIGN

This study utilizes the descriptive method of research to assess socio-demographic profile

such as name, year and strand, age, gender, parent’s name, parent’s age, parents’ occupation,

parent’s highest educational attainment and to determine the Factors that Influence the Student’s

Track Preference of the Senior High School of La Consolacion College-Caloocan of the

Academic Year 2017-2018. It would see if dependent variables relating to personality,

family/relatives, interests and job opportunities were significant factors influencing the track

preferences of the respondents.

This descriptive research would use quantitative methods to assess the feedback from the

respondents. The research design, depicted in Figure 3, follows the Conceptual Framework

which the independent variables composed of the motivating factors that influence senior high

school in track preference such as family, peers, career and job opportunities, skills, academic
performances, subjects, interest and the dependent variable is the respondent’s preference or their

chosen track.

LOCALE OF THE STUDY

La Consolacion College – Caloocan (LCC-C) is a private religious educational institution

managed and operated by the Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation (ASOLC). It is

located at 496 A. Mabini St. Caloocan City, Metro Manila, Philippines. The college comprises of

two main buildings, the Our Lady of Consolation building and Sta. Monica building.

Aside from the two main buildings, the school also has a gymnasium, a quadrangle, an

indoor swimming pool, basketball court, a volleyball court, a badminton court, chapels and

audio-visual facilities. The school also has laboratories used for science experiments and

activities. The school offers Basic Education Department (BED), for students who range from

Nursery to Grade 12, and collegiate courses like HRM, Tourism, Education and Business

Administration.

RESEARCH RESPONDENTS

The researchers’ chosen respondents for this research are all Senior High School Students of the

BED department of LCC-C of Academic Year 2017-2018. The whole batch is divided into two
(2) year levels, with eight (8) sections in grade 11 and seven (7) sections in grade 12. Each

section has an average of 45 students per class. From the total population of 734 students, the

study garnered a 35.29% respondent turn out.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

For this study, an overview rating scale/survey was utilized to assemble the respondents'

input. Table 1 shows the specification grid of the 16-item rating scale/questionnaire for the

respondents regarding the Factors that Influence the Student’s Track Preference.

The Part I of the questionnaire covers the socio-demographic profile of the respondent;

such as name, year and strand, age, gender, parent’s name, parent’s age, parents’ occupation,

parent’s highest educational attainment. In Part II, the respondents were asked of their preferred

response in a 16-item rating scale, wherein they would rate each item on a scale from 1 to 5, with

1 as “not influenced” and 5 as “very much influenced”.

Table 1: Specification Grid on the Rating/Questionnaire on the Factors Influencing Student’s

Track Preference

Content Item Number Total Items

Part I: Student Profile

A. Name

B. Year and Strand

D. Gender

E. Mother’s Name

F. Father’s Name

G. Age of Mother

H. Age of Father

I. Mother’s Occupation

J. Father’s Occupation

K. Mother’s Highest

Educational

Attainment

L. Father’s Highest

Educational

Attainment

Part II: Factors Influencing

Student’s Track Preference

A. Personality 1-4 4

B. Family/Relatives 1-4 4

C. Interests 1-4 4

D. Career Opportunities 1-4 4

Total: 16
DATA GATHERING PROCEDURE

In administering the questionnaire, the researchers use the time allotted for vacant to

avoid distractions of class discussion. The survey forms distributed from all sections of Grade 11

and Grade 12 and conducted the study personally. The respondents were given enough time to

answer the survey form. After data gathering, the researchers collected the survey form for

tallying the scores by applying the statistical treatment to be used in the study.

STATISTICAL TREATMENT OF DATA

For Part I, which covers the socio-demographic profile of the respondent, frequency and

percentage are used. The formula used in the percentage is:

𝑓
%= 𝑥 100 where: % - percent
𝑁

f – frequency

N – number of respondents
 FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Part I: Student Profile

A. Name

B. Year and Strand

C. Age

D. Gender

E. Mother’s Name

F. Father’s Name

G. Age of Mother

H. Age of Father

I. Mother’s Occupation

J. Father’s Occupation

K. Mother’s Highest Educational

Attainment

L. Father’s Highest Educational

Attainment

For Part II, comprises a 5-point Likert scale, with 1 for the lowest and 5 for the highest.

The following describes the weight and the mean range of the degree of influence, represented

by each point:

WEIGHT MEAN RANGE DESCRIPTION

5 4.20 – 5.00 Very Much Influenced, deeply concerned

3 2.60 – 3.39 Somewhat Influenced, sometimes concerned

2 1.80 – 2.59 Less Influenced, slightly concerned

1 1.00 – 1.79 Not Influenced, no concern

Graphs are used to illustrate the summarized findings from the survey.