Social Capital on 21st Century Employment Competencies

Graduating students must think critically, work well in teams, and handle challenging situations to succeed in today's fast-paced world. The objective of this study was to explore how the dimensions of social capital (economic, symbolic, cultural, and social) influenced the development of critical thinking, communication, and collaboration skills in graduating students. Using a descriptive-correlational design with regression analysis an adapted and modified questionnaire was conducted to 329 graduating students through stratified random sampling using Slovin’s formula from Manolo Fortich and Alae High Schools. Findings revealed that students perceived social connections as the most prominent aspect of their social capital, with collaboration emerging as the most valued 21st century employment skill. Through collaboration, social connections, and team trust, the students adapted by openly discussing diverse perspectives, challenging assumptions, and collectively innovating solutions to intricate technical challenges. While the symbolic, cultural, and social dimensions positively correlated with employment skills, the symbolic dimension showed the strongest relationship. The economic dimension, however, did not exhibit a significant correlation. The study highlighted the symbolic dimension as the most influential predictor of employment skills, followed by the cultural dimension. It was recommended to focus on improving the economic dimension to enhance overall social capital, positively impacting 21st century employment skills.