The Manifestation of Sociocultural Factors among the Local Universities and Colleges’ Administrators

The study assessed the sociocultural factors affecting leadership of the Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) administrators in the Philippines. The descriptive-evaluative method of research was used. Data were gathered using a self-made Likert-type questionnaire from the 111 randomly administrators in the regions of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon (CALABARZON). The statistical tools applied were weighted mean and single factor Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Findings revealed that the administrators have strong manifestation of the sociocultural factors such as values, customs and lifestyles. However, there was no significant difference on the manifestations of sociocultural factors when grouped as to provinces. There is a need to impose familial relationships with the members of the LUCs for a stronger and healthy working environment. This study leads to the determination of the patterns and trends of the sociocultural factors and leadership style practices of the LUCs administrators for any leadership development program.


Introduction
Sociocultural relates to or involves a combination of social and cultural factors. It looks at the important contributions that society makes to individual development. Culture and society are interrelated; one does not exist without the other (Reyes, 2014). There are three main sociocultural factors such as values (Baltazar et al, 2013), customs (Abundo, 2015), and lifestyles (Panopio & Rolda, 2007). According to Reyes (2014), sociocultural factors characterize a society or group while cultural aspects per se include concepts of education, language, law and politics, religion, social organizations, technology, and attitudes. However, sociocultural theory, according to Vygotsky (2013) is the way people interact with others and the culture they live in that shape their mental abilities. This explains why differences are highly observed in the way people think and behave and even lead others.
Sociocultural factors like values, customs, and lifestyle in the Philippine society are a reflection of its complex history. CALABARZON is not an exemption to this since it has several customs being followed by the different provinces where each has its own customs and traditions, like town fiestas, festivals, Lenten season celebration and others (Garcia, 1985). Further, the people living in the region are mostly inhabited by Filipinos conglomerated by the different nationalities who invaded the country even from the time of the ancestors, the Datus and the Barangays. According to Abundo (2015), the Philippines is a combined society, both singular and plural in form. It is singular as one nation, but plural in that it is fragmented geographically and culturally. The nation is divided between Christians, Muslims, and other religious-ethno-linguistic groups; between urban and rural people; between upland and lowland people; and between the rich and the poor. Although different in numerous ways, Filipinos give appropriate respect to everybody regardless of race, culture, and beliefs.
Filipino values and lifestyle were shaped by several conflicting cultures and the resulting blend is what makes a unique Filipino influenced and cultured by the rich Christian values of Europe, the pragmatic and democratic values of America, and the spiritual values of Asia (Boström & Schmidt-Hertha, 2017). For this reason, the Philippine culture is rich in customs and traditions. One of the known Filipino practices is being hospitable. In Filipino This study evaluated the manifestation of the sociocultural factors affecting the leadership of the LUC administrators in the CALABARZON region in the Philippines. It determined the sociocultural factors in terms of values (Baltazar et al, 2013), customs (Abundo, 2015), and lifestyle (Panopio & Rolda, 2007). It also tested any significant difference in the sociocultural factors according to province.

Values
Values are the bases for determining what behavior and attitudes are correct. They are emotion laden. The members of a culture share a value such as religiosity or honor because they feel that it is right (Panopio & Rolda, 2007;Oropilla & Guadana, 2021 Much of who people are is the result of the basic values they have developed throughout their lives (Harvey & Allard, 2011).
Moreover, values comprise the things that are most important to people (Baltazar et al., 2013). They are deep-seated pervasive standards that influence almost every aspect of our lives -from books we read, to our religious beliefs, our values are at the core of our personality. They influence the choices we make, the people we trust, the appeals we respond to, and the way we invest our time and energy. Enriquez (2004) started unfolding the concept of kapwa (shared identity), which is at the core of Filipino social psychology, and which is at the heart of the structure of Filipino values. He discovered that it is not maintaining smooth interpersonal relationships that Filipinos are most concerned with, but pakikipagkapwa which means treating the other person as kapwa or fellow human being. There are two categories of kapwa: the Ibang-Tao (outsider) and the Hindi-Ibang-Tao (''one-of-us''). In Filipino social interaction, one is immediately ''placed'' into one of these two categories; and how one is placed determines the level of interaction one is shown (Rungduin, Rungduin & Acopio, 2020). For example, if one is regarded as ibang-tao, the interaction can range from pakikitungo (transaction/civility with), to pakikisalamuha (interaction with), to pakikilahok (joining/participating), to pakikibagay (in-conformity with/in accord with), and to pakikisama (being along with). If one is categorized as hindi-ibang-tao, then you can expect pakikipagpalagayang-loob (being in-rapport/understanding/acceptance with), or pakikisangkot (getting involved), or the highest level of pakikiisa (being one with) (Rebustillo, 2017).
Also, having a close family ties is one of the outstanding Filipino cultural values (Badana & Andel, 2018;Marquez, 2019 (Andres, 1994). The Sikolohiyang Pilipino perspective interprets 'bahala na' differently. Lagmay (1977) explained that bahala na is not ''fatalism'' but ''determination and risk-taking''. When Filipinos utter the expression ''Bahala na!'' they are not leaving their fate to God and remaining passive. Rather, they are telling themselves that they are ready to face the difficult situation before them, and will do their best to achieve their objectives. In fact, even before they have said ''Bahala na!'' they have probably done their best to prepare for the forthcoming situation.

Customs
There are quite a lot of Filipino customs, culture, and traditions for the home and the family. Almost all customs are based on religious beliefs. During the morning, it is also customary for Filipino people to open their east window. This is said to bring God's grace inside the house through the sun. It is also very important to make sure that there are statues of Jesus or Mary in the house and that they are facing the direction of the front door. This is because they will be greeting the visitors of the house and anyone who comes in. This simply means that the people who they greet will be blessed too. This is why most of the Filipino households have statues of Jesus and Mary by the front door.
Also, if one would have to move out to a new house, there is a saying that the homeowner will be asked to throw some coins when he opens the front door. This is said to bring good luck and prosperity to the household. The first thing that is brought inside the house is the uncooked rice. This is because they believe that this will bring wealth to the family who will live there. Putting some coins in the main corners of the house will signify wealth and when building the stairs of the house, they make sure that the stairs are not thirteen. It is said that thirteen is the number of Judas and this will bring bad luck to the household and the people who will come in (Enriquez, 2004).
One of the unique trait and custom is having close family ties. It is one of the outstanding cultural values and customs that Filipinos have. The family takes care of each other and are taught to be loyal to the family and elders by simply obeying their authorities.
Having fondness for family reunions during secular and religious holidays is an evidence that Filipino people valued not only our customs and traditions but also the spirit of our family and we are blessed to have been brought up with strong family ties (Abundo, 2015).
Filipinos are known to be the most hospitable people. Foreign visitors in the country are treated with utmost respect. It is amazing to see that even the simplest home along the road opens their home to a stranger. This trait is usually seen during fiestas and holidays where many Filipinos are giving their best to entertain their visitors well. Filipino hospitality is a trait and custom one cannot take away from them.
The habit of going to church and often praying reflects that Filipinos have a deep faith and belief to God, especially the Roman Catholics. They are very devoted to religions that sometimes many take the risk of their lives just to touch the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila. Filipinos believe that having a strong devotion may lead to a better life and guidance to face the challenges in everyday life.

Lifestyle
It is as broad as culture. Lifestyle relates to socioeconomic strata that have certain patterns of behavior. Lifestyle can be viewed in a number of ways: (1) As an indication of a given level of evaluation where, for instance, place of residence and type of home are used as criteria in dividing a population into strata; (2) As the reward or consequence of other inequalities, as where the preference for and the capacity to afford a certain type and place of residence are differentiated by income, education, and occupation; and (3) As a technique for validating one's claim to a given level of evaluation or honor, such as those cases where persons change their place of residence when moving to a new socioeconomic level and seeking to validate this claim to a new level. (Panopio & Rolda, 2007).
On hindsight, it can be said that all of these techniques can be used in the context of Philippine situations. Though the Philippines is an open society where everybody is given the opportunity to succeed, accessibility to certain goods and services appear to vary according to the capabilities of individuals. It appears that the rich have more chances of further improving their strata in society because they have not only wealth, property, and occupation to accomplish it, but also influence and connection. This is also possible because they not only reside in the same subdivision and work in the same company or perhaps are partners in business and are also educated in the same schools. They share the same interests and are therefore members of the same club and civic organizations, making their relationships friendlier and close. Thus, their children tend to marry each other and therefore share their parents' interest as well as their properties.
These diverse source of the combined Philippine culture has brought a very diverse Philippine lifestyle for most Filipinos today. A legacy of way of life transferred to them by their ancestors, from different cultures and from different countries, nowadays, have conquest and put their own mark at the Philippine archipelago.

Sociocultural Theory
It is an emerging theory in psychology that looks at the important contributions that society makes to individual development. This theory stresses the interaction between developing people and the culture in which they live. This theory suggests that human learning is largely a social process (Cherry, 2017). However, Lev Vygotsky's sociocultural theory's major theme is that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition. Vygotsky believed everything is learned on two levels. First, through interaction with others, and then integrated into the individual's mental structure. A second aspect of Vygotsky's theory is the idea that the potential for cognitive development is limited to a "zone of proximal development". This "zone" is the area of exploration for which the student is cognitively prepared, but requires help and social interaction to fully develop. A teacher or more experienced peer is able to provide the learner with "scaffolding" to support the student's evolving understanding of knowledge domains or development of complex skills.
Collaborative learning, discourse, modelling, and scaffolding are strategies for supporting the intellectual knowledge and skills of learners and facilitating intentional learning. culture provides what he referred to as "tools of intellectual adaptation". These tools allow students to use their basic mental abilities in a way that is adaptive to the culture in which they live. He believed that each culture presents unique differences (Cherry, Oct 2017).

Methodology
This study applied the descriptive-evaluative method of research. The evaluative part assessed the situation to where the study was established and to where the problem was addressed by the study, which are the LUCs administrators in the CALABARZON region.
While the quantitative approach employed a questionnaire as the main guide of the study (Bryman & Bell, 2013). More simply put, descriptive-evaluative research is all about describing people who take part in the study (Fraenkel, 2007).
There were fifteen (15) local government established public educational institutions in the provinces of Cavite (2), Laguna (5), Batangas (3), Rizal (3) and Quezon (2) representing the study participants. There were respondents who were the administrators at the LUCs. The simple random sampling method was used in selecting the respondents.
The self-made instrument used to gather the data was a Likert-scale type with five choices and equivalent values. To validate the instrument, permission for pilot testing was done in one of the university in Laguna Province on December 5, 2017 wherein ten (10) administrators participated in the initial try-out of data gathering using the instrument. Then, the data were treated by using the Cronbach's Alpha to determine its extent or range of error correction. Subsequently, the instruments were corrected and validated before distribution to the target respondents.
The data were treated using weighted mean and single factor Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).  Baltazar et al., (2013) values comprise the things that are most important to someone. They are deep-seated pervasive standards that influence almost every aspect of one's lives -from books read to religious beliefs, our values are at the core of our personality. They influence the choices they make, the people they trust, the appeals they respond to, and the way they invest time and energy.   (Abundo, 2015). This suggests for a team building program to impose familial relationships with the members of the schools.    The table 4 shows the differences of the responses on sociocultural factors when grouped as to provinces. In terms of values and customs, the F computed values are all less than the F Critical value of 3.41. Thus, the null hypothesis is accepted. There is no significant difference in the responses on sociocultural factors when grouped as to provinces.

Findings and Discussion
As contrasted, in terms of lifestyle, the F computed value is 3.75 which is far greater than the F critical value of 3.41. Thus, the null hypothesis is rejected. There exists a significant difference of the responses on sociocultural factors when grouped as to provinces.       Table 7 shows the weighted mean distribution of the responses on lifestyle when grouped as to provinces. The general weighted mean is 4.47 with a verbal interpretation of "Strongly Agree." This implies that the respondents strongly agreed on the sociocultural factors of the locally funded state universities' administrators.
The highest indicators are Rizal, Quezon, Cavite, and Laguna with weighted means of 4.62, 4.61, 4.59, and 4.52, respectively. The lowest indicator is Batangas with a weighted mean of 3.98.

Conclusion
The results of the study showed that the LUC administrators strongly agree on the manifestations of the sociocultural factors affecting their leadership. On values, the administrators strive to be dynamic -eager to learn, grow, change, develop, and improve; encourage ethical/virtuoushas moral uprightness, practices the virtues of charity, humility, industriousness, justice, and cheerfulness; and practice ethics and virtues, respectively. In terms of customs, the administrators practice the use of "po" and "opo" in the offices to give respect to the senior school managers; foster hospitality in treating every person who are part of the school be it a school official or an outsider; exhibit dedication and loyalty to the school; and inculcate obedience (pagiging masunurin) to the immediate heads of the schools.
While in terms of lifestyles, the administrators combat any graft or corruption in the schools through strong moral compass in life and in work, avoid violence or any troubles brought about by adverse situations or problems to be solved at hand, disallow any bribery that might happen in the school, and does not tolerate any conspiracy common in all schools that can wreak havoc to the entire school system.
Though there is no significant difference in the responses on sociocultural factors of LUCs administrators in the CALABARZON region when grouped as to provinces, the need to impose familial relationships with the members of the locally funded universities and colleges in the CALABARZON Region, for a stronger and healthy working environment is essential. There is also a need to monitor and supervise sociocultural factors hand-in-hand with leadership style practices for a better school performance. In the same way, the need to determine the pattern and trend of the sociocultural factors and leadership style practices of the LUCs administrators to develop a sustainable program is important. The program can serve as a guide and reference to the LUCs administrators and to other researchers in the near future.