Altogether 121 persons graduated from the University with a B.Sc. degree in Biology. Among them, 88 (73%) responded to the survey. Most (76% or 67) of the 1996 Biology graduates were able to get full-time employment within six months of graduation. 2.3% (or 2 graduates) were still looking for full-time employment at the time of the survey. 22% (or 19 graduates) went on for further studies. (Table 1)
| Biology | HKU Overall* | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Male | Female | ||||||||||||||
| 96 | 95 | 96 | 95 | 96 | 95 | 96 | 95 | |||||||||
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| No. of respondents | 88 | 100 | 61 | 100 | 40 | 100 | 31 | 100 | 48 | 100 | 30 | 100 | 2139 | 100 | 2068 | 100 |
| F/T employed | 67 | 76.1 | 45 | 73.8 | 31 | 77.5 | 21 | 67.7 | 36 | 75 | 24 | 80 | 1743 | 81.5 | 1726 | 83.5 |
| P/T employed seeking F/T job | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 1.6 | 18 | 0.9 |
| Unemployed seeking F/T job | 2 | 2.3 | 2 | 3.3 | 1 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.1 | 2 | 6.7 | 34 | 1.6 | 36 | 1.7 |
| Further studies | 19 | 21.6 | 13 | 21.3 | 8 | 20 | 9 | 29 | 11 | 22.9 | 4 | 13.3 | 314 | 14.7 | 281 | 13.6 |
| Emigration/home country | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.28 | 1 | 0.1 |
| Not seeking F/T job | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.4 | 6 | 0.3 |
* HKU overall refers to the figure for the total HKU population and includes M.B.,B.S. and B.D.S. graduates.
Among the 19 Biology graduates who pursued further studies, 15 of them (79%) took up postgraduate courses in the same discipline as their first degree. All of them studied in local tertiary institutions. Table 2 shows the academic programmes that Biology graduates were engaged in and Table 3 shows the source of finance for further studies.
| Field of Study | Academic programme | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ph.D. | M.Phil | Postgraduate Certificate | |
| Science | 1 | 16 | |
| Education | 1 | ||
| Others | 1 | ||
Table 2. Academic programmes
| Source of Finance | No. of Graduates |
|---|---|
| Own Fund | 2 |
| Teaching Assistantship/Studentship | 15 |
| Scholarship and Teaching Assistantship/Studentship | 1 |
| Government Grant and Loan | 1 |
Table 3. Source of finance for further studies
Among those graduates who were in full-time employment, 78% (or 52 graduates) secured their first job offers before the end of September. (Figure 1)
Figure 1. Time taken to secure employment
Most (76% or 50) of the graduates were employed in commerce and industry, followed by 14% (or 9 graduates) in education, 6% (or 4 graduates) in community, social & personal services and 5% (or 3 graduates) in civil service (Figure 2). More females were employed in the education sector (23% vs. 3%) (Figure 3).
Figure 2. Employment sectors
Figure 3. Employment sectors by sex
Table 4 shows the average income of 1996 Biology graduates in full-time employment.
| Basic Salary | Gross Income | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biology | HKU Average* | Biology | HKU Average* | |||||
| 96 | 95 | 96 | 95 | 96 | 95 | 96 | 95 | |
| Mean | $10,975 | $11,484 | $14,457 | $14,204 | $12,280 | $12,808 | $15,902 | $15,662 |
| Median | $9,000 | $9,950 | $12,000 | $12,000 | $10,833 | $12,126 | $13,542 | $13,230 |
| Minimum | $6,000 | $4,000 | $3,000 | $2,000 | $6,300 | $8,000 | $5,500 | $3,792 |
| Maximum | $28,660 | $18,145 | $55,000 | $60,000 | $28,660 | $18,145 | $60,000 | $60,000 |
Table 4. Basic salary and gross income
* HKU average refers to the figure for the total HKU population and includes M.B.,B.S. and B.D.S. graduates.
54% (or 36) of the Biology graduates had more than one job offer. In fact, more than 24% (or 16 graduates) reported having received three or more offers. (Figure 4)
Figure 4. No. of full-time job offers
The job titles of the 67 graduates who took up full-time employment and the names of their employers are listed below.
| Employers : | Job Titles : |
|---|---|
| CIVIL SERVICE - | |
| * Housing Department | * Housing Officer |
| * Hong Kong Police Force | * Probationary Inspector |
| * Urban Council | * Librarian Assistant |
| EDUCATION - | |
| * Buddhist Hung Sean Chau Memorial College | * Graduate Master |
| * Buddhist Wai Yan Memorial College | * Graduate Master |
| * Caritas Magdalere School | * Certificate Mistress |
| * Caritas Magdalere School | * Secondary School Teacher |
| * Carmel Alison Lam Foundation Secondary School | * Graduate Master |
| * Delia Memorial School | * Teacher |
| * Open Learning Institute of Hong Kong | * Clerical Officer II |
| * St. Marys Canossian College | * Graduate Mistress |
| * The University of Hong Kong | * Temporary Clerk |
| COMMUNITY, SOCIAL AND PERSONAL SERVICES - | |
| * Informatics Open Institute | * Course Consultant |
| * Life Education Activities Programmes | * Educator |
| * New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association | * Welfare Worker |
| COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY - | |
| * American International Assurance Company Ltd | * Financial Planner |
| * ASM Assembly Automation | * Training Officer |
| * B & I Trade Fairs Ltd | * Project Executive |
| * Boehringer Mannheim China Ltd | * Sales Executive |
| * Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd | * Airport Services Officer |
| * Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd | * Airport Services Officer |
| * Cigna Worldwide Insurance Co | * Management Trainee |
| * Colliers Jardine | * Research Analyst |
| * CPL Aronvas (Far East) Ltd | * Sales Co-ordinator |
| * Dah Sing Bank | * Temporary Clerk |
| * Direct Health Care Ltd | * Sales Co-ordinator |
| * Educational Publishing Group Ltd/Yuk Choi Book Store | * Sales Executive |
| * Elegance Finance Printing Services Ltd | * Customer Service Representative |
| * Eli Lilly Asia, Inc. | * Sales Representative |
| * Forest Company | * Marketing Assistant |
| * Gainyear Trading Ltd | * Marketing Executive |
| * Glaxo Welcome | * Medical Representative |
| * Golden Win Mark | * Sales |
| * Grey Advertising | * Copywriter |
| * High Gain Industrial Ltd | * Assistant to Managing Director |
| * HK Pacific Centre Management Ltd | * Executive Assistant |
| * HK Pacific Public Ltd | * Assistant Merchandiser |
| * Inchcape Testing Centre | * Senior Customer Service Co-ordinator |
| * Jardine Insurance Broker Ltd | * Employee Benefit Trainee |
| * LEPO Toys Ltd | * Merchandiser |
| * McDonalds Restaurants (H.K.) Ltd | * Manager Trainee |
| * Micro Electronics Ltd | * Marketing Executive |
| * Mingson Industry | * User Coordinator |
| * Nestle China Ltd | * Medical Delegate |
| * Ning Woo Ind Co Ltd | * Secretary |
| * Pericles Technology Ltd | * Sales Executive |
| * Potter Leadership Resources Ltd | * Operations Associate |
| * Prudential Insurance | * Life Underwriter |
| * Shakespeare (HK) Ltd | * Customer Service Officer |
| * SPACE Cad (Reishi) Health Product Ltd | * Assistant Manager |
| * Sudden Weekly Ltd | * Account Executive |
| * Survey Research Hong Kong Ltd | * Executive Interviewer |
| * The Unviersal Pharmaceuticals Lab. Ltd | * Sales Representative |
| * Thomas Medical Laboratory | * Laboratory Assistant |
| * Top Form | * Purchasing Clerk |
| * Toray Industries (HK) Ltd | * Secretary & Sales Assistant |
| * W.I. Carr (Far East) Ltd | * Operations Support |
| * Waly Interior Product Ltd | * Product Administrator |
| * Whampoa Garden Management Ltd | * Assistant Estate Officer |
| * Wui Luen Insurance Co | * Account Executive |
| * YPT International Ltd | * Senior Clerk |
| * Yuk Charm Enterprise & Holding Ltd | * Secretary |
| * Wenlin Company | * Sales Executive |
| * Oasis Consultant | * Occupation's name not reported |
No Response = 3
Table 5. List of employers and job titles
Note: Some alumni have indicated willingness to talk to individual students about their work. Their contact telephone number can be obtained from counsellors at CEPC.
Telephone : 2859 2314
Fax : (852) 2559 5238
E-Mail : CEPC@HKUCC.HKU.HK
Opening Hours :Monday - Friday (9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.)
Saturday (9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)
Margaret Lee
Nelson Yip
September, 1997
No part of this report may be reproduced in any form or by whatever means,
without written permission from the Director of the Careers Education
and Placement Centre,
The University of Hong Kong