Gender Equality in the Workplace: A Tracer Study on the Employment Status of Mindanao State University at Naawan Graduates and Its Implications on Gender Gap

Abstract

Gender role inequalities in the workplace take place since there are gender-based imbalances of individuals in power to direct and influence the management of the organization. Women are not able to be promoted into higher paid positions as quickly as men. Despite various debates and discussions about the inequalities faced by women in the workplace, there is still a lack of progress closing the gender gap. Women are underrepresented not because of lack of education or expertise but merely because of gender role (Epetia, 2019). To contextualize the issue on gender gap, this study proposed to assess the employment status of its graduate or alumni in order to objectively measure if gender gap, employment inequality, and gender role differences in the job setting currently exist in the workplace. This tracer study on gender gap among the graduates is a pioneering research for MSU at Naawan. The main objective of this paper is to trace the MSU-Naawan 2018 - 2019 graduates not only to know their recent locations but also to get data on their employment status to assure that the skills and knowledge they had learned and undergone during their entire coursework and practical trainings in the university. In gender gap research, this paper is significant to present updated empirical information about the gendered practices, norms, and discourses experienced by the MSU-Naawan graduates in the workplace. Since MSU-Naawan has no data yet on the employment status and gender gap experience of its graduates, this study is timely for the latter to comply with the government agencies’ requirements for HEI’s budget funding and levelling instrument for future accreditation of programs.

Keywords

• gender gap
• employment equality
• alumni tracer activity

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