The University of Hong Kong

Careers Education and Placement Centre

Where did the 1996 Sociology 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 Sociology majors : -

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

Of the 17 respondents who reported to major in Sociology, 15 graduates (88%) were in full-time employment within six months of graduation. 6% (1) pursued further studies. 1 graduate (6%) was still seeking full-time employment at the time of the survey in December 1996. (Table 1)

	Sociology												HKU Overall *
	Total				Male				Female				HKU Overall *
	'96		'95		'96		'95		'96		'95		'96		'95
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
No. of respondents	17	100	18	100	6	100	5	100	11	100	13	100	2139	100	2068	100
F/T employed	15	88.2	13	72.2	6	100.0	2	40.0	9	81.8	11	84.6	1743	81.5	1726	83.5
P/T employed seeking F/T job	1	5.9	1	5.6	0	0	0	0	1	9.1	1	7.7	34	1.6	18	0.9
Unemployed seeking F/T job	0	0	1	5.6	0	0	1	20.0	0	0	0	0	34	1.6	36	1.7
Further studies	1	5.9	3	16.7	0	0	2	40.0	1	9.1	1	7.7	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

Table 1. Employment situation

* HKU overall refers to the figure for the total HKU population and includes M.B.,B.S. and B.D.S. graduates.

III. Further Studies

The academic programme of the graduate going on for further studies and the source of finance are shown in Tables 2 and 3.

Field of Study	Academic programme
Field of Study	Postgraduate Certificate
Education	1

Table 2. Academic programmes

Source of Finance No. of Graduates
Government Grant & Loan 1
Table 3. Source of finance for further studies

Source of Finance	No. of Graduates
Government Grant & Loan	1

IV. Time Taken to Secure Employment

Among those graduates who were in full-time employment, 93% (or 4 graduates) secured their first job offer before the end of September 1996. The figure increased to 100% in October. On the whole, Sociology students were faster in securing employment compared with their predecessors in the previous year. (Figure 1)

Figure 1. Time taken to secure employment

V. Employment Sectors

80% (12) of the Sociology graduates were employed in commerce and industry, followed by 13% (2) in the civil service and 7% (1) in the education sector. (Figure 2)

Figure 2. Employment sectors

Figure 3. Employment sectors by sex

VI. Basic Salary and Gross Income

The average basic salary of 1996 Sociology graduates was more or less the same as their predecessors in the previous year. (Table 4)

	Basic Salary				Gross Income
	Sociology		HKU Average *		Sociology		HKU Average *
	'96	'95	'96	'95	'96	'95	'96	'95
Mean	$11,795	$10,958	$14,457	$14,204	$12,588	$12,463	$15,902	$15,662
Median	$10,000	$10,000	$12,000	$12,000	$10,833	$10,833	$13,542	$13,230
Minimum	$7,500	$6,000	$3,000	$2,000	$8,425	$6,000	$5,500	$3,792
Maximum	$20,000	$18,145	$55,000	$60,000	$20,000	$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. graudates.

VII.Number of Full-Time Job Offers

73% (or 11) of the Sociology graduates in full-time employment had more than one job offer. (Figure 4)

Figure 4. No. of full-time job offers

VIII. Names of employers and Job titles

The job titles of the 15 Sociology graduates in full-time employment and the names of their employers are listed below.

Employers :	Job Titles :
CIVIL SERVICE -
* Customs & Excise Department	* Inspector
* Labour Department	* Assistant Labour Officer II
EDUCATION -
* St. Gloria College	* Teacher
COMMERCE & INDUSTRY -
* Artist Empire Jewellery MFY Ltd	* Assistant Export Executive
* Asian Terminal Ltd	* Commercial Officer
* Dentsu Advertising	* Account Executive
* E I Freight (HK) Ltd	* Supervisor Management Trainee
* Hong Kong Seibu Enterprise Co Ltd	* Administrative Assistant
* Internation Collections Ltd	* Marketing Executive
* Lotus Ng & Associates Ltd	* Marketing Assistant
* Ming Pao Enterprise Corp Ltd	* Translator
* MTR	* Manual Compiler
* Pin Xin International Ltd	* Administrator
* VOC Credit Card International Ltd	* Account Executive
* Organisation’s name not reported	* Administrative Executive

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.

IX.

Similar information on graduates from other disciplines of study are available for reference in the Careers Library. Please enquire with the CEPC. Careers Education and Placement Centre
3/F Wong Chuang Lai Wah Building
Meng Wah Complex
The University of Hong Kong
Pokfulam Road
Hong Kong

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

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