The University of Hong Kong

Careers Education and Placement Centre

Where did the 1997 Environmental Science graduates go?

I. Introduction

The information contained in this paper is extracted from the Graduate Employment Survey of 1997 to answer the following questions about Environmental Science 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 1997

Altogether 42 persons graduated from the University with a B.Sc. degree in Environmental Science. Among them, 39 (93%) responded to the survey. Of these, 77% (or 30 graduates) of the Environmental Science graduates were in full-time employment within six months of graduation. 5.2% (or 2 graduates) were still seeking full-time employment at the time of the survey. 15% (or 6 graduates) went on for further studies. (Table 1)

	Environmental Science																		HKU Overall*
	Total					Male							Female
	‘97		‘96		‘97				‘96			‘97				‘96			‘97		‘96
	No.	%	No.	%			No.	%		No.	%			No.	%		No.	%	No.	%		No.	%
No. of respondents	39	100	51	100			18	100		25	100			21	100		26	100	2272	100		2139	100
F/T employed	30	76.9	33	64.7			12	66.7		15	60.0			18	85.7		18	69.2	1928	80.5		1743	81.5
P/T employed seeking F/T job	1	2.6	1	2.0			0	0		1	4.0			1	4.8		0	0	37	1.6		34	1.6
Unemployed seeking F/T job	1	2.6	1	2.0			1	5.6		1	4.0			0	0		0	0	53	2.3		34	1.6
Further studies	6	15.4	15	29.4			5	27.7		8	32.0			1	4.8		7	26.9	339	14.9		314	14.7
Emigration/home country	0	0	1	2.0			0	0		0	0			0	0		1	3.8	4	0.2		6	0.28
Not seeking F/T job	1	2.6	0	0			0	0		0	0			1	4.8		0	0	10	0.4		8	0.4

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

Five graduates pursued postgraduate studies in the same discipline as their first degree. Of those, three graduates took up a M.Phil. programme and two graduates took up a Master (coursework) programme. All of them were enrolled in local tertiary institutions. Table 2 shows the academic programmes Environmental Science graduates were engaged in and Table 3 shows the source of finance.

	Academic programmes
Fields of Study	M.Phil.	Master (Coursework)
Science	3	2

No Response = 1

Table 2. Academic programmes

Source of Finance	No. of Graduates
Own Fund	1
Teaching Assistantship/Studentship	3
Government Grant & Loan	2

Table 3. Source of finance for further studies

IV. Time Taken to Secure Employment

Among those graduates who were in full-time employment, 80% secured their first job offers before the end of September. The figure reached 100% by the end of December. (Figure 1)

Image42.gif (13156 bytes)

Figure 1. Time taken to secure employment

No Response =1

V. Employment Sectors

62% (or 18 graduates) of the Environmental Science graduates were employed in commerce and industry, followed by 17% (or 5 graduates) in the education sector, and 14% (or 4 graduates) in the civil service. The remaining 6.9% (or 2 graduates) joined community, social & personal services. (Figures 2 & 3)

Figure 2. Employment sectors

Image43.gif (10477 bytes)

No respone = 1

Figure 3. Employment sectors by sex

VI. Basic Salary and Gross Income

In general , the average income of the 1997 Environmental Science graduates was higher than that of their predecessors in the previous year. (Table 4)

	Basic Salary				Gross Income
	Environmental Science		HKU Average*		Environmental Science		HKU Average*
	‘97	‘96	‘97	‘96	‘97	‘96	‘97	‘96
Mean	$12,645	$9,555	$15,749	$14,457	$14,343	$11,346	$17,552	$15,902
Median	$11,000	$9,250	$12,500	$12,000	$12,883	$10,833	$14,521	$13,542
Minimum	$8,000	$3,000	$4,400	$3,000	$8,000	$6,500	$5,000	$5,500
Maximum	$30,610	$16,860	$59,000	$55,000	$30,610	$23,860	$74,000	$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.

VII. Number of Full-Time Job Offers

83% of the graduates in full-time employment had more than one job offer. 33% reported having received three or more job offers. (Figure 4)

Figure 4. No. of full-time job offers

VIII. Names of Employers and Job Titles

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

Employers :	Job Titles :
CIVIL SERVICE -
HKSAR - Customs & Excise Department		Inspector
HKSAR - Government Flying Services		Air Crewman

EDUCATION -
City University of Hong Kong		Research Assistant I
NTWJWA Leung Sing Tak Primary School		Clerical Officer II
St Margaret’s Girls’ College		Graduate Master
The University of Hong Kong		Executive Officer

COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICE -
The Conservancy Association		Education Officer
Hospital Authority - Tuen Mun Hospital		Student Nurse

COMMERCE & INDUSTRY -
AD-Link Communications Ltd		Media Executive
AT&T		Business Operations Assistant
Aon Risk Services (HK) Ltd		Claims Trainee
Avery Dennison		Management Trainee
Convey Advertising Co Ltd		Account Executive
Full Comfort Ltd		Assistant Product Development Manager
Henderson Land Development		Leasing Representative
Hong Kong Electric Co Ltd		Graduate Trainee
Hongkong Bank		Counter Service officer
MTR		Operating Trainee
Oriental Daily		Reporter
Roots Holdings Ltd		Personal Assistant
Sino Group		Property Officer
Standard Chartered Bank		Personal Financial Consultant
Tech-Flo Electronics Ltd		Sales Executive
Techwide Engineering Ltd		Environmental Scientist
Toshida		Computer Operator
Universe Watch Trading Company		Assistant Marketing Officer

No Response = 4

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

Homepage : http://www.hku.hk/cepc

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

June, 1998

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