The University of Hong Kong

Careers Education and Placement Centre

Where did the 1997 Ph.D. 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 Ph.D. 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 1997

Out of 111 Ph.D. graduates, 70 responded to our survey, representing a response rate of 63%. Of these, 89% (or 62 graduates) were in full-time employment within six months of graduation. 7.2% (or 5 graduates) were still looking for full-time employment at the time of the survey. 4.3% (or 3 graduates) went on for further studies. (Table 1)

	Ph.D.																	HKU Overall
	Total					Male						Female						(Research Postgraduates)
	‘97		‘96		‘97				‘96		‘97			‘96					‘97			‘96
	No.	%	No.	%			No.	%	No.	%		No.	%		No.	%	No.			%	No.		%
No. of respondents	70	100	65	100			48	100	48	100		22	100		17	100	143			100	148		100
F/T employed	62	88.6	58	89.2			42	87.5	44	91.7		20	90.9		14	82.4	117			81.8	124		83.8
P/T employed seeking F/T job	2	2.9	1	1.5			2	4.2	0	0		0	0		1	5.9	2			1.4	5		3.4
Unemployed seeking F/T job	3	4.3	4	6.2			1	2.1	3	6.3		2	9.1		1	5.9	4			2.8	5		3.4
Further studies	3	4.3	1	1.5			3	6.3	1	2.1		0	0		0	0	19			13.3	13		8.8
Emigration/home country	0	0	0	0			0	0	0	0		0	0		0	0	0			0	0		0
Not seeking F/T job	0	0	1	1.5			0	0	0	0		0	0		1	5.9	1			0.7	1		0.7

Table 1. Employment situation

III. Further Studies

Of the three graduates who pursued further studies, one was enrolled in a local tertiary institution and two went abroad to U.K. and Canada respectively. Table 2 shows the academic programme Ph.D. graduates were engaged in and Table 3 shows the source of finance.

	Academic Programme
Field of Study	Ph.D.	Others
Science		2
Others	1

Table 2. Academic programme

Source of Finance	No. of Graduate
Own Fund	2
Full Scholarship	1

Table 3. Source of finance for further studies

IV. Time Taken to Secure Employment

Among those graduates in full-time employment, 95% secured their first job offer before the end of September. The figure increased to 100% after December 1997. (Figure 1)

figure1.gif (15692 bytes)

V. Employment Sectors

63% (or 39 graduates) of the 1997 Ph.D. graduates were employed in the education sector, followed by 23% (or 14 graduates) in commerce & industry and 9.7% (or 6 graduates) in the community, social and personal services. The remaining 4.8% (or 3 graduates) joined the civil service. (Figures 2 & 3)

figure1.gif (15692 bytes)

VI. Basic Salary and Gross Income

The remuneration received by the 1997 Ph.D. graduates is shown in Table 4.

	Basic Salary				Gross Income
	Ph.D.		HKU Average*		Ph.D.		HKU Average*
	‘97	‘96	‘97	‘96	‘97	‘96	‘97	‘96
Mean	$31,443	$34,835	$27,070	$28,280	$36,584	$40,981	$30,400	$32,056
Median	$27,790	$27,512	$24,000	$22,548	$28,083	$31,250	$25,000	$23,833
Minimum	$13,000	$12,000	$9,500	$10,800	$15,167	$13,000	$9,500	$12,600
Maximum	$85,000	$77,000	$85,000	$77,000	$111,000	$106,000	$111,000	$106,000

Table 4. Basic salary and gross income

* HKU average refers to the income received by research postgraduates.

VII. Number of Full-Time Job Offers

Of those in full-time employment, 39% of the graduates had more than one job offer. 21% reported having received three to eight or more job offers. On average, each graduate received 1.8 job offers. (Figure 4)

figure1.gif (15692 bytes)

VIII. Names of Employers and Job Titles

The job titles of the Ph.D. graduates in full-time employment and the names of the employers are listed below.

Employers :	Job Titles :
CIVIL SERVICE -
HKSAR	Chemist
HKSAR - Civil Engineering Department	Civil Engineering Graduate

EDUCATION -
City University of Hong Kong	Assistant Professor
City University of Hong Kong	Assistant Professor
City University of Hong Kong - Management Department	Assistant Professor
City University of Hong Kong	Lecturer
City University of Hong Kong	Lecturer
City University of Hong Kong - Department of Biology & Chemistry	Post-doctoral Research Fellow
City University of Hong Kong	Research Fellow
City University of Hong Kong	Senior Lecturer
Hong Kong Baptist University	Lecturer
Hong Kong Institute of Education	Lecturer
Hong Kong Institute of Education	Acting Divisional Director
Keimyung University	Lecturer
Shantou University, China	Lecturer
South China Normal University, China	Lecturer
The Chinese University of Hong Kong	Instructor
The Chinese University of Hong Kong	Post-doctoral Fellow
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Assistant Professor
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Lecturer
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Lecturer
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Post-doctoral Fellow
The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology	Assistant Professor
The University of Hong Kong	Post-doctoral Fellow
The University of Hong Kong	Post-doctoral Fellow
The University of Hong Kong	Post-doctoral Fellow
The University of Hong Kong	Post-doctoral Fellow
The University of Hong Kong	Post-doctoral Fellow
The University of Hong Kong	Post-doctoral Fellow
The University of Hong Kong	Post-doctoral Research Fellow
The University of Hong Kong	Post-doctoral Research Fellow
The University of Hong Kong	Research Assistant
The University of Hong Kong - Department of Bio-Chemistry	Post-doctoral Fellow
The University of Hong Kong - Department of Chinese	Language Instructor
The University of Hong Kong - Department of Civil & Structural Engineering	Research Assistant I

The University of Hong Kong - Department of Computer Studies	Senior Research Assistant
The University of the Philippines	Assistant Professor
The University of the Philippines - Institute of Food Science & Technology	University Researcher
University of California, San Francisco	Post-doctoral Fellow
Zhejiang University	Associate Professor
Organization’s name not reported	Research Officer

COMMUNITY, SOCIAL & PERSONAL SERVICES -
Hospital Authority	Medical Technologist
Hospital Authority	Scientific Officer - Medical
Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden	Ecologist
The Chinese Manufacturing Association	Manager
Organization’s name not reported	Psychologist

COMMERCE & INDUSTRY -
Alpha Metals (HK) Ltd	Development Chemist
Alpha Metals (HK) Ltd	Senior Chemist
Cemac Engineering Co Ltd	Engineer
City Planning Consultants Ltd	Assistant Planner
Ecosystems Ltd	Ecologist
Environment Resource Management Hong Kong	Consultant
Gammon Construction Ltd	Design Engineer
Heraeus Ltd	Senior Analytical Chemist
Hong Kong Telecom	Account Manager
Learegene	Scientist
New T & T (HK) Ltd	General Manager
The Kingman Academy	Director
Winstech Precise Media Co Ltd	Engineer
Wyeth (HK) Ltd	Clinical Research & Registration Manager

No Response = 2

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

July, 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