Human Ecological Systems Shaping College Readiness of Filipino K-12 Graduates: A Mixed-Method Multiple Case Analysis

How ready are the K-12 graduates in the Philippines? What environmental conditions shape their college readiness? How do these conditions help to prepare them to transition from basic to tertiary education seamlessly and effectively? This study answers these questions by utilizing a mixed-method multiple case study design framed within the Human Ecological Systems Model. The 7,238 respondents and 28 study participants were first-year students enrolled in one state university in northern Philippines. Results revealed that the Filipino K-12 graduates demonstrated less preparedness for college education. The variables under human ecological systems influencing their college readiness include sex, gender, birth order (individual system), parents’ monthly income (microsystem), type of senior high school (SHS) graduated and track taken in SHS (mesosystem), parents’ location of employment (exosystem); and ethnicity and parents’ educational attainment (macrosystem). Such findings prove that college readiness among K-12 graduates is not solely dependent on their cognitive abilities but is a confluence of environmental conditions from the individual to macrosystems. Thus, the human ecological system serves as a functional frame in understanding factors shaping the college readiness of K-12 graduates and it is recommended that the conditions under each system must be considered as valuable inputs for basic education in preparing K-12 students for college life.