The University of Hong Kong

Careers Education and Placement Centre

Where did the 1996 M.Soc.Sc. graduates go?

I. Introduction

The information contained in this paper is extracted from the Graduate Employment Survey of 1996 to answer the following questions about M.Soc.Sc. graduates : -

• How were they employed six months after graduation ?
• Of those who pursued further studies, what programmes did they follow ?
• Of those who were employed full-time, how long did it take them to secure their first job offer ?
• In which sectors were they employed ?
• How much did they receive in salary ?
• How many job offers did they receive ?
• Who were their employers and what were their job titles ?

II. Employment Situation in 1996

Out of 14 M.Soc.Sc. graduates, 13 responded to our survey, representing a response rate of 93%. All of them were in full-time employment within six months of graduation. (Table 1)

	M.Soc.Sc.						HKU Overall (Taught Masters)
	Total		Male		Female
	'96		'96		'96		'96
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
No. of respondents	13	100	4	100	9	100	98	100
F/T employed	13	100	4	100	9	100	88	89.8
P/T employed seeking F/T job	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2.0
Unemployed seeking F/T job	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2.0
Further studies	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4.1
Emigration/home country	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1.0
Not seeking F/T job	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1.0

Table 1. Employment situation

III. Time Taken to Secure Employment

All the graduates in full-time employment secured the first job offer before the end of October 1996. (Figure 1)

Figure 1. Time taken to secure employment

IV. Employment Sectors

54% of the 1996 M.Soc.Sc. graduates were employed in the civil service. 31% joined community, social & personal services and 15% worked in the education sector. (Figure 2)

Figure 2. Employment sectors

Figure 3. Employment sectors by sex

V. Basic Salary and Gross Income

Table 2 shows the average income of 1996 M.Soc.Sc. graduates in full-time employment.

	Basic Salary		Gross Income
	M.Soc.Sc.	HKU Average *	M.Soc.Sc.	HKU Average *
Mean	$29,582	$25,246	$31,226	$27,483
Median	$31,200	$24,000	$31,230	$24,850
Minimum	$18,000	$10,000	$20,000	$10,000
Maximum	$31,230	$70,000	$38,100	$87,000

Table 2. Basic salary and gross income

* income received by taught master graduates

VI. Number of Full-Time Job Offers

Of the 13 graduates in full-time employment, 6 (46%) had more than one job offer (Figure 4).

Figure 4. No. of full-time job offers

VII. Names of employers and job titles

The job titles of the 13 graduates and the names of their employers are listed below.

Employers :	Job Titles :
CIVIL SERVICE -
* Department of Health	* Clinical Psychologist
* Department of Health	* Clinical Psychologist
* Social Welfare Department	* Clinical Psychologist
* Social Welfare Department	* Clinical Psychologist
* Social Welfare Department	* Clinical Psychologist
* Social Welfare Department	* Clinical Psychologist
* Namlong Hospital	* Clinical Psychologist
EDUCATION -
* National Antiques Society, UK	* Teacher
* The Church Body of Anglican Chinese Church in Hong Kong	* Educational Psychologist
COMMUNITY, SOCIAL & PERSONAL SERVICES -
* Hospital Authority	* Clincial Psychologist
* Hospital Authority	* Clinical Psychologist
* The Spastics Association of Hong Kong	* Educational Psychologist
* Organisation’s name not reported	* Clinical Psychologist

Table 3. 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.

VIII.

Margaret Lee
Nelson Yip

August, 1997

The analysis is based on information provided by the respondents, and the Careers Education & Placement Centre should not be held responsible for any errors arising therefrom.

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