by Ruby R. Buccat, PhD
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the work readiness of the fourth year business administration (BA) students of the University of Baguio (UB). The study was conducted during the second semester of SY 2012-2013 among 89 UB SBAA 4th year students and the managers/supervisors of the companies in Baguio City where the practicum students are usually deployed as the respondents. The findings show that companies expect that BA graduates must be very competent in terms of foundation skills and functional skills which mean that companies expect a very high level of work readiness among them. The type of company influenced the level of competency required of BA graduates in terms of functional skills but not foundation skills. The fourth year BA students believe that they are very competent in terms of foundation and functional skills, which means they have a very high level of work readiness. This matches the expected level of work readiness by the employers. The course major influenced the level of competency possessed by fourth year BA students in terms of foundation and functional skills. In all of the foundation skill areas, companies require that BA graduates must be very competent. Although the fourth year BA students believe that they are very competent in most of the foundation and functional skill areas, they are however moderately competent in some of the skills areas, which include writing, decision making skills, visualization, and reasoning for foundation skills.
Key words: Work readiness, foundation skills, functional skills, level of competence
Source: UB Research Journal, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1, January – June 2014
