Bulletin Spring 1989

1988 Freshmen in Profile The annual survey on new students of the University conducted by the Office of Student Affairs revealed statistics that presented an interesting profile of the student population. Of the 1,531 full-time first-year students admitted to the University in the academic year 1888-89, 98.9% of them responded to the survey while all of the 179 part-time students also participated.* Freshmen of the Full-time Programmes Statistics revealed that the overall male to female ratio among the freshmen is 1:1.1. However, male students still form the majority in the Faculty of Medicine (86.1%) and the Faculty of Science (76%). The average age of the students is 18.3 years, while male and female averages are 18.4 and 18.1 respectively. Some 72% of the students profess no religious belief. The others are mainly Protestants (21.1%) and Catholics (6.3%). Freshmen in general have had an active non-academic life before entering the University: 99.3% of them having participated in various extracurricular activities at school, and 82.8% having travelled outside Hong Kong. 4.4% of the freshmen have had the experience of full-time employment, 10.9% the experience of part-time employment and 60.7% the experience of summer work prior to entering university. With respect to the level of educational attainment of student parents, it was found that 21.7% of the fathers and 14.3% of the mothers received education to tertiary level. 34.3% of the fathers and 28.4% of the mothers were educated to secondary standard, while less than half of the parents received only primary school education. Of the parents' occupations, 22% of the fathers are production-related workers/drivers, 16.2% of them store-owners or merchants, 12% professionals or in managerial positions. A large majority of the mothers (55.6%) are housewives, while 19.4% of them are employed as production-related workers. The survey revealed that freshmen came from families with a monthly household income in the average of $8,061. Over 92% of the freshmen have to rely in varying degrees on their families for financial support. 48.7% of them also indicated the need for government grants and loans. 43% of them plan to take up summer or part-time work to help provide for their education expenses. 49.8% of the freshmen live in Kowloon, 27.3% of them in the New Territories and 22.5% on Hong Kong Island. 38.9% of the freshmen live in public housing estates, representing a decrease of 1.3% compared with the previous year's figure. The average household size is 5.1 persons. The overall average living area per person is 7.8 square metres, which is slightly higher than that of the previous year (7.6 square metres). However, nearly half of the freshmen (42.9%) do not have a favourable study environment at home. About 74% of the freshmen therefore expressed a strong need for campus accommodation, according to the survey. As many as 97% of the students surveyed have chosen their major programmes out of an interest in the subject fields. 82.8% of the participants in the survey believed that their chosen major would lead to promising careers. Examination results have played a part in the choice of majors for 57.6% of the freshmen, and 24% of them were influenced by family expectations. About 97% of the respondents hoped to study a subject of their own interest in university. Some 93% of them expected to obtain specialized training in university, and 89% expected a university education to assist them in perfecting their human nature. About 81% of the students place emphasis on acquiring an all-round education, while most of them also expressed a keen interest in extracurricular activities. Nearly 87% suggested that they would participate in academic activities outside the formal curriculum. 77.5% of them expressed interest in activities related to arts and crafts, and 31.5% indicated that they would participate i n Student Union activities. * Enrolment figures as of 30th October, 1988 19