ABM: Chosen Strand

Cherrylyn U. Aquino
Ginalyn S. Arzobal
Lenielanda T. Pangilinan
Pauline May V. Orande
 Chapter 1
Background of the study

Introduction

One significant reform in the Philippines Education System is the implementation

of the K to 12 program. It aim is to enhance learner's basic skills, produce more

competent citizen, and it prepared graduates for lifelong learning and employment.

Moreover, it goals is to "development of a holistically developed Filipino with the 21st

century skill who are ready for employment, entrepreneurship, middle level skills

development and higher education upon graduation from Grade12 (The K to 12 Basic

Education Program, 2012). The structure of K to 12 program provides additional two

years’ level from the old education system, it offers four track including Academic,

Technical-Vocational Livelihood, Arts and Design and Sports Track. Under the

Academic Track are the four strands including Accountancy, Business and

Management (ABM), Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), Science, Technology,

Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and General Academic Strand (GAS).

Accountancy, Business and Management is one of the strands that under in the

Academic Track. It focuses on the basic concept of financial management, business

management, corporate operation are all things that accounted for. This leads to the
students’ careers on management and accounting which would be sales manager,

human resources, marketer’s director, project officer, bookkeeper, account clerk, and

internet auditor (Edukasyon.ph)

In choosing a career, learners are trying to change and plan for the future.

Different factors will influence the mind of learners in deciding what kind of career would

lead to success.

This study aims to investigate different factors that influenced the Former,

Grade11 and the Grade12 learner's in choosing ABM as their chosen strand. According

to Super (1990), many factors affect the choice of students, identifying these factors will

give the parents, educators, and industry on idea as where the students place most of

their trust in a career selection process. The researchers conduct this study to help the

future researchers about the reason why the Senior High School students chose the

ABM as their chosen track.

Statement of the problem

The study aims to determine the different factors influenced the senior high in

choosing ABM Strand. Moreover, to know the greatest factors that influenced the

student’s choice.
Specifically, this study sought to answer the following:

1. What are the factors that influenced the Senior High Students’ decision in

choosing ABM Strand?

2. What are the preferences of the Senior High Students in choosing ABM

Strand?

Scope and Delimitation

This study focused on the factors that influenced the Senior High School

learner's in choosing ABM Strand. The data will be taken to the 6 males and 5 females

from the Former ABM learners, 5 males and 5 females from Grade11 ABM learners,

and 8 females and 1 male from Grade 12 ABM learners. This study is to be conducted

at Citrus National High School.

Theoretical Framework

Lent et al. (1994) developed social cognitive theory to facilitate understanding of

career choice, interest and performance processes. This theory identifies the factors

that interplay when a student chooses a certain track and progresses on the chosen

career track.
 The influence of enironment has an impact to the decision making of the

learners it may affect their interests, career choice, and perfromnace processes.

The researchers used this method to understand the career decisions of the

respondents. The researchers will be going to observe the interests of the respondents

when it comes to the field of study.

The significance of this study is to know what are the preferences of the students

in choosing ABM Strand. The result of this study will help the high school students to

their decision making regarding to their educational plan. It will lead them to decide

properly if the respondents have knowledge about ABM Strand.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is to determine what are the factors that affect the

student choice in choosing ABM Strand. The preferences of the students will also

determine in this study.In this case, the researchers will help the junior high students to

choose their preferred track and strand.

K-12 is a program that 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.

ABM this strand focuses on learning the basic concepts of business and learning

associated skills in other related fields like finance, management, corporate and

operations.

Academic track defines a set of possible course selections available to a specific

group of students. They are analogous to the colored course selection sheets common

in a paper-based course selection process

Cognitive theory is an approach to psychology that attempts to explain human

behavior by understanding your thought processes.

Arts and Design Track prepares the learners for a tertiary education geared towards

the performing arts, media and visual arts and industrial arts. It includes specialization
subjects that provide the learners the needed competencies in music, theater, and

creative arts.

Sports Track It aims to give you understanding of the basic principles and techniques

in relation to physical education and recreation. It will also offer you discuss various

factors that affect social, psychological, and cognitive development in sports leadership

and management. Professions that are related in this track are fitness trainers, game

officials, tournament manager, recreation attendant, masseur, or gym instructor.

HUMSS This strand is for learners who aim to take up journalism, communication arts,

liberal arts, education and other social sciences related courses in college.

STEM is an educational program developed to prepare primary and secondary students

for college and graduate study in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and

mathematics (STEM). In addition to subject-specific learning, STEM aims to foster

inquiring minds, logical reasoning, and collaboration skills.

GAS (General Academics Strand) is the most flexible strand among the four strands

offered in the Academic Track because students get to learn and experience something

from all the other strands. GAS is essentially for students who are undecided on which

strand to take.
Financial Management The planning, directing, monitoring, organizing, and controlling

of the monetary resources of an organization.

Business Management The activities associated with running a company, such as

controlling, leading, monitoring, organizing, and planning.

Sales Manager A sales manager is someone who is responsible for leading and

guiding a team of sales people in an organization. They set sales goals & quotas, build

a sales plan, analyze data, assign sales training and sales territories, mentor the

members of his/her sales team and are involved in the hiring and firing process.

Human Resource is the company department charged with finding, screening,

recruiting and training job applicants, and administering employee-benefit programs. As

companies reorganize to gain a competitive edge, HR plays a key role in helping

companies deal with a fast-changing environment and the greater demand for quality

employees.

Marketer’s Director A marketing manager is someone who manages the marketing of

a business or product. They can be responsible for several services or products, or be

in charge of a single product. A marketing manager needs to have an outgoing,

focused, detail-oriented, and very conscientious of meeting budget restraints and

timelines.

Project Officer provides essential support to a project, working with the Project

Manager and other team members to achieve project success. Project Officers work in

almost every field – construction, communications, education, sales – anywhere that

projects are undertaken. Exact responsibilities will vary by project and industry, but key

component of a Project Officers’ roles include administrative and technological skills.

Project Officers answer directly to a Project Manager.

Bookkeepers usually employed by a small to mid-size company to record its

transactions such as sales, purchases, payroll, collection of accounts receivable,

payment of bills, etc.

Internet Audits an objective examination and evaluation of the financial statements of

an organization to make sure that the records are a fair and accurate representation of

the transactions they claim to represent. The audit can be conducted internally by

employees of the organization, or externally by an outside firm.

This chapter presents a review of related literature and studies related to the

factors that influenced the students in choosing track/strand.

Review of Related Literature

According to the article of Olszweski-Kubilius and Yasumoto (1994), the gender,

race, previous academic experience, ability, interest and personal attitudes are those

factors that influenced the course choice of gifted middle school students who

participated in a summer academic program towards the mathematical and science

course versus the verbal course. Among those factors, parental attitudes had a greatest

influence in student's choice where these factors play a big role on the student's future.

The parental attitudes and previous academic experience influenced the

selection of mathematical course over verbal course while parental attitudes and race

influenced the selection of science course over verbal course. The importance of

parents in placing mathematics and science course on student's future had the most

powerful influenced in students selection compared to others variables.

The gender differences have shown, where females students less likely the

mathematical and science course and most likely the verbal course than males, that's

why the role of the parents is to accelerate females to choose the mathematical course.
Review of related studies

Some of the researchers investigate the factors influencing the student's choice.

Based on the study of Aguado, Laguador and Deligero (2015) there are several factors

affecting the choice of the students includes environment, personal choice and the

accessibility of schools from students residence. Among those factors, the personal

choice with the parental support is considered as the highly affecting factors of the

students in pursuing the maritime program. Where the maritime students strongly

agreed that in choosing the university and preferred degree program offered in the LPU

is their own choice.

A student signifies that as early as high school, they know where to go in college

and students believe that the university can meet their expectation. Personality,

family/relatives, interest and job opportunities are those factors affects the SHS track

preference of the Grade 9 students of Don Bosco Technology Center. Among those

factors, interest of the students had the greatest influence in student's choice in

choosing SHS track. Students choose their preferred SHS track based on their personal

interest for their near future (Japitan et al.,2015).

Most of the Grade 9 students select ABM and TVL as their chosen career strand

and track. Moreover, career choice and students profile are significantly associated in
terms of sex, average family income, occupation of head of the family, school

preference and average scholastic rating in Grade 8 while the career choice and the

students profile are not significantly associated to the highest educational attainment of

head of the family and person influenced the choice of career track.

Wherein, some students wants to work in the commercial and industrial field

especially the males while females preferred to have a contribution on the society

(Abarro,2016). Self- efficacy, preference of students, preference of parents, aptitude,

number of schools offering the degree career track and the availability of financial

assistance on scholarship are those factors affecting the career path of Grade 10

students. Using these factors as input, the Senior high school career strands were

compared and rank using AHP. Where ABM strand and the STEM strand are the

chosen strand of the Grade 10 students of UP Los Baños (Gestiada,Nazareno and

Villanueva,2017).

There are 4 factors affecting the student's decision making such as "personal","

group", "school" and "career exploration". Among of those factors, a personal factor was

the most deeply affecting factor, where will be easily affected by personal factor of

career decision-making in three aspects: learning motivation, learning attitudes and self-

efficacy. Among of these, students of large- sized school will taking households affair

course where overall affecting the level of personal factors (Su et al.,2016).
 Having the independent decisions of the students in choosing course in college,

personal factors considered the most affecting factors of students choice while the

family and peer factors is can also be considered as a factors but not much affecting the

students choice in a particular course in college(Pasuala,2014). Future job

opportunities, personality, family and peer/classmates are those factors can affect the

student's choice. Where the future job opportunities may influenced in terms of

reasonable probability of earning money in a particular career fields in the future.

Personality plays an important role in choosing a right career, students

personality must be self- motivated types as to investigate career possibilities from early

on their lines not the procrastinating type where it waits until students are compelled to

decide .In family, parents had influence the career path of their children where their

support and encouraged students in decision making on the career path.

Lastly, the peer/ classmate had a big influenced on the individuals career choice

and the who contribute a lot in one's decision making (Balinton,2016).