CUHK-Shenzhen Class of 2019 Graduate Outcomes Report Released
On February 17, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen formally released the Graduate Outcomes Report of Class 2019, manifesting that graduates with a bachelor's degree in 2019 not only maintained a high employment rate, but also saw further advances in both employment and further studies, evidenced by the steady increase in the admission rate by prestigious universities in the world and the employment rate by well-known domestic and foreign enterprises. These data fully showcase that as a young university founded in 2014, CUHK-Shenzhen has gained wide recognition and reputation both at home and abroad.
There are four highlights in the graduate outcomes of Class-of-2019. First, the employment rate grows to 98.18%, topping among domestic well-known universities; second, the proportion of graduates pursuing further studies reached unprecedentedly high at 75.73%, among which 64.10% were admitted to top 50 universities across the globe. Third, the average annual salary of graduates who went straight into the job market rose to 141,300 yuan; fourth, the School of Science and Engineering witnessed a remarkable outlook for its first bachelor’s graduates cohort, among whom 82.69% were admitted into master's or Ph.D. programmes of world-renowned universities. Specifically, 13.02% of SSE graduates under this category were offered admissions into Ph.D. programmes at top universities with full scholarship.
82.69% SSE Graduates Admitted to World-Renowned Universities;
One-eighth Goes on to Ph.D. Studies Directly
Class of 2019, the second bachelor's graduating class of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, consists of graduates from the School of Management and Economics (SME) and the School of Science and Engineering (SSE). The latter celebrated its first graduating class this year.
The employment rate of SSE graduates reached 98.85%, with 82.69% admitted to postgraduate programmes, 15.77% entering workforce, and 0.38% self-employed. Graduates seeking jobs were employed by well-known companies such as Microsoft, Huawei, and Baidu.
For those who chose to continue their studies, one out of eight (13.02%) were enrolled in Ph.D. programmes of renowned universities worldwide, 85.71% of which were top 50 universities in the world such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, University of California, Berkeley and University of Michigan.
Global Footprints at Prestigious Universities across the world
Statistics show that 75.73% of the Class-of-2019 graduates chose to pursue further studies. Among them, 64.10% were admitted to QS or U.S. News world's top 50 universities in 2020, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology , University of Oxford, ETH Zurich, University of Cambridge, University of Chicago, University College London, Imperial College London, National University of Singapore, Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, University of Michigan, Duke University, University of California, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University and Johns Hopkins University.
The United States continues to be the most popular destination for graduates pursuing further studies, attracting 43.86% of the Class of 2019 graduates, followed by Hong Kong SAR of China and the UK, accounting for more than 20% of the total together. The statistics also show the increased diversity of studying-abroad destinations, including Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic.
Graduates' English Proficiency and Comprehensive Quality Widely Recognized by Employers
The report shows that a total of 121 graduates (22.08%) chose to work directly after graduation, with an average annual salary of CNY 141,300.
In terms of regional distribution, nearly 90% of the employed graduates chose to work in first-tier cities such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing, constituting 57.02%, 11.57%, 11.57%, and 5.79%, respectively. The number of graduates securing positions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong- Macau Greater Bay Area reached 85, forming 70.25%. The employment statistics by industries show that most of the employed students took jobs in fields such as IT Internet, communications, electronics, professional services, education, training, finance, banking, insurance and other industries.
Among the graduates entering workforce, 38.84% were employed by private enterprises, such as Huawei and Baidu; 35.54% by contractual joint ventures, cooperative ventures and solely foreign-funded enterprises such as Tencent, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, and Big Four accounting firms; 14.88% by state-owned enterprises; and 10.74% by government agencies, institutions, and research centers.
Compared with the Class of 2018, which consisted of only SME graduates, Class of 2019 of CUHK-Shenzhen (from both SME and SSE) saw more diversified employment. In addition to multinational companies and private enterprises, more students were favored by state-owned enterprises and institutions in 2019. The proportion of graduates working in state-owned enterprises rose from 8.05% in 2018 to 14.88% in 2019, with a year-over-year increase of 6.83%. Part of the reason comes from the continuous improvement of discipline construction of the University, which has enhanced graduates' adaptability to different types of employers in extensive professional fields. On the other hand, the excellent professional performance and services rendered by the University’s first graduates cohort have manifested to the society the quality of education at CUHK-Shenzhen and the competence of its graduates.
In order to evaluate the performance of the Class of 2019 in the workforce, the University has conducted a survey on employer satisfaction of CUHK-Shenzhen graduates evaluated against 12 skills and qualities. The results show that the employers in general were highly satisfied with the Class of 2019. Particularly, their foreign language proficiency, learning ability, and interpersonal communication skills stood out among their peers.
