Opinion Survey on the Public Ranking of Universities in Hong Kong 2009 Presentation of Findings

1. 香港大學民意研究計劃 The University of Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme Opinion Survey on the Public Ranking ofUniversities in Hong Kong 2009Presentation of Findings By Karie Pang 27 July 2009

2. Outline of Presentation • Background information • Demographic profile of respondents • Ratings of universities and their heads • Public perception of graduates • Conclusion

3. Background

4. History • Commissioned by Media Education Info-tech Co. Ltd. (MEIT, which owns “Education18.com”) since 2001, this is the 9th survey in the row. • Key objective is to gauge the general public’s perception of eight institutions of higher education funded through University Grants Committee (UGC) while Hong Kong Shue Yan University is included for the second time this year, as well as their opinions on qualities of university students. • The survey questionnaire was designed by HKU POP after consulting MEIT. • Fieldwork and data analysis conducted independently by POP, but final rankings wholly or partly based on perception figures are compiled independently by MEIT.

5. Contact Information Date of survey: May 25 – June 15, 2009 Target population: Cantonese-speaking population of Hong Kong of age 18 or above Survey method: Telephone survey with interviewers Sample size: 1,201 successful cases Response rate: 65.2% Sampling error: Less than 1.4% Weighting method: Data adjusted according to the gender-age distribution of HK population at the end 2008

6. Notes of Caution • Findings only reflect general public perception of the nine institutions and their leaders, they are not results of objective appraisals or professional assessments. • Absolute ratings (i.e. 0-10) are used in the key questions, they are methodologically more powerful than relative rankings, because the score received by each institution in any one year is independent of the scores of other institutions, or its own score in another years. • Sequence of prompting respondents with the name of nine institutions was randomly rotated to avoid possible bias. • All respondents have been told at the beginning of the interview that POP was an independent research body.

7. Demographic Profile of Respondents

8. Gender Valid samples：1,201

9. Age Distribution Valid samples：1,187

10. Education Attainment Valid samples：1,195

11. Occupation Valid samples：1,183

12. Public Ratings of Universities and their Heads

13. Overall Performance of University * 95% 94% 92% 94% 91% 90% 84% 87% 84% * Recognition rate = No. of raters/total sample# Added in 2008 survey Valid samples (2009)：1,005-1,142 ^ Changes being statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

14. Cross-tabulation Analyses: University Ratings vs Respondents’ Education Attainment ^ Differences among sub-groups tested to be statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

15. Cross-tabulation Analyses: University Ratings vs Respondents’ Occupational Background 7.81 7.66 7.42 7.59 7.76 7.46 7.08 7.41 7.22 7.24 7.28 6.89 6.78 6.82 6.81 6.42 6.64 6.18 6.30 6.22 6.20 5.93 6.33 6.22 6.08 6.12 5.63 5.51 5.79 5.38 5.90 5.32 5.55 5.51 5.34 5.49 5.74 5.01 5.43 5.25 ^ Differences among sub-groups tested to be statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

16. Public Ratings of University Heads * 77% 73% 69% 50% 55% 63% 66% 48% 49% Valid samples (2009)：580 – 926 • Recognition rate = No. of raters/total sample

17. Cross-tabulation Analyses: Ratings of University Heads vs Education Attainment ^ Differences among sub-groups tested to be statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

18. Cross-tabulation Analyses: Ratings of University Head vs Respondents’ Occupation HKUST – Paul C.W. Chu^ HKU – Lap-chee Tsui CUHK – Lawrence J. Lau PolyU – Timothy W. Tong HKSYU – Chi-yung Chung HKBU – Ching-fai Ng HKIEd – Anthony B.L. Cheung^ CityU – Way Kuo LU – Yuk-shee Chan ^ Differences among sub-groups tested to be statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

19. Public Perception of University Students and Graduates

20. Perceived Deficiencies of University Students (I) Critical thinking and problem- solving ability^ Proficiency in Chi, Eng and PTH Conduct and honesty Social / interpersonal Skills Academic and professional Knowledge^ Social / work experience Work Attitude^ Global prospect / foresight Commitment to society Independence^ ^ Changes being statistically significant at 95% confidence level. Total samples (2009)：1,201

21. Perceived Deficiencies of University Students (II) Alertness to risk/ handling adverse conditions^ All- roundness^ Communication skills Self- confidence Civil awareness^ Creativity Nothing Don’t know^ ^ Changes being statistically significant at 95% confidence level. Total samples (2009)：1,201 Note: Attributes registering less than 3% for this year are not shown here.

22. Most Preferred University Graduates[Only for respondents involved in recruiting new staff] Won’t employ Don’t know HKU PolyU HKUST CUHK Overseas universities No preference HKSYU HKIEd LU CityU HKBU Others Valid samples (2009): 216 Standard error (for 2009 at 95% confidence level): +/-6.8%

23. Reasons for Graduate Preferences[Only for respondents involved in recruiting new staff and with preferences on university graduates] Good performance of previous graduates Good knowledge in job-related areas Reputation Diligent / motivated Good language ability Good work attitude Alumni Good social relationship Others Valid samples (2009): 154 Standard error (for 2009 at 95% confidence level): +/-8.1% Note: Reasons registering less than 5% for this year are not shown here.

24. Conclusion

25. Conclusion • Between 2001 and 2009, HKU continues to be perceived by the public as the best performing university, with CUHK & HKUST consistently taking the 2nd and 3rd ranks. • Professor Paul Chu of HKUST has replaced Professor Lap-chee Tsui of HKU to become the best performing university head this year. • “Work attitude”, “language proficiency” and “conduct, honesty” are perceived to be important qualities which most Hong Kong university students lack of. • Of the 217 potential employers interviewed, most preferred employing HKU, PolyU, HKUST and CUHK graduates, while 14% had no special preference. Main reasons for their choice were “good performance of previous graduates” and “good knowledge in job-related areas” of the graduates.

26. Public Enquiry Welcome • To enhance more rational discussions on university ranking surveys, local and non-local, a special on-line feature page entitled “university ranking surveys” has been set up at the HKU POP Site at http://hkupop.hku.hk to serve as an information hub and one-stop service point for the public. • The feature page also contains a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and model answers, first prepared in 2005. One print copy of all FAQs have been distributed to the press. • Journalists and members of the general public are welcome to contribute questions to the FAQ list, all questions and answers will be open to the general public.

27. End of Presentation Thank you!