Bulletin Number Three 1986

Career Destination of 1985 Graduates The 1985 annual employment survey, conducted by the Appointments Service, covered all first and higher degree graduates and diplomates. Out o f a total of 1,009 full-time first degree graduates, 869 returned completed and valid questionnaires, giving a response rate o f 86.1%. The response rate o f higher degree graduates and diplomates was 85.9%. By the time the survey was conducted, that is, about five to six months after graduation, the majority o f the 1985 graduates were found to be satisfactorily employed in a large variety o f career fields. The general pattern o f their destinations broadly followed that o f the year before. The number o f graduates who entered the business sector has been on the increase since 1982. This increase was particularly noticeable among graduates in the non-business disciplines. It indicated that graduates were more aware o f the broad range of career opportunities that were available in the local market. The graduates were w illing to take up jobs which are not directly related to their academic training. The overall percentage o f graduates who entered the field o f secondary school teaching continued to drop, and the decrease was particularly noticeable among graduates in arts and science. While there was no obvious shortage o f teaching jobs in 1985, this decrease might reflect a larger demand for graduates o f various academic backgrounds in the other employ­ ment sectors, especially the business community. The Government absorbed slightly more graduates than it did in the previous year. Findings o f the employment surveys conducted in the past few years suggest that there was a growing trend for graduates' career choices to become more diversified. In view o f the imminent changes in the socio-economic fabric o f Hong Kong, it is believed that such diversification w ill be beneficial to the graduates themselves and the community as a whole. First Degree Graduates O f the 869 respondents who returned valid questionnaires, 687 (79.1%) had commenced work, 150 (17.3%) were engaged in further studies, one (0.1%) was preparing for further studies and two (0.2%) were ill and not seeking employment. Twenty- nine (3.3%) were still seeking suitable employment at the time of analysis. Graduates entering the business sector continued to increase from 36.6% in 1982 through 39.9% in 1983 and 45.6% in 1984 to 54.7% in 1985. While it was appropriate that the vast majority (88%) of graduates in business administration should launch their careers in business, there was a marked increase in the percentage o f science graduates who entered the business sector, from 45.2% in 1984 to 58.5% in 1985. The number o f arts and social science graduates who opted for careers in business also increased by 8.1% and 5.6% respectively. Among those employed in the business sector, 38.8% served in local companies and 19.4% in American companies. Some 18% were w ith PRC-funded firms. The rest were working for companies owned by British (10.1 %)， Japanese (3.7%) and other interests (9.9%). The percentage o f graduates entering the educa­ tion sector continued to decline from 46.5% in 1983 to 40.3% in 1984 and then 32.2% in 1985. The decrease in arts and science graduates entering the education sector was 14.6% and 9.2% respectively when compared to the figures o f the previous year. Most o f the graduates in education (84.6%) were teaching in secondary schools, while 9.5% were teaching in tertiary educational institutions. Of those who were engaged in secondary school teaching, 86.6% were serving in aided or caput schools. The percentages o f graduates employed in public utilities and in social and public service organizations decreased slightly from 1.7% and 7% in 1984 to 1% and 5.7% in 1985 respectively. There was a slight increase in the percentage o f graduates joining the civil service, from 5.4%in 1984 to 6.1% in 1985. The number o f graduates who went into teaching was on the decline, from 45% in 1983 to 39.8% in 1984 and 30.7% in 1985. As regards the other career fields, the percentages o f graduates taking up administrative work (10.4%), marketing (10.8%) and accounting (6.7%) increased by 3.4%, 2.9% and 2.7% over the respective figures o f the year before. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 13