Critics:
Professors' salaries are too highBy Scarlett Shi
University professors are responsible not only for teaching, but also for research and community service.
Criticisms are being made that the salaries of professors in Hong Kong are too high. Information from the Personnel Office of The Chinese University of Hong Kong shows that the present highest monthly wage of a professor in the university is $104,430.
Based on data compiled by the American Association of University Professors, the average annual income of professors in the top-quartile disciplines in the United States is US$96,415, which is about HK$63,000 per month.
Prof. Kenneth Leung Wai Yin, an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, commented on this contrast.
“Salaries are consistent with the high standard of living in Hong Kong. Compared with those in Western countries, they don’t need to pay that much for living expenses.
“I admit that the salaries of professors in Hong Kong are high, but there are good reasons for this.
“Professors are not only responsible for teaching, but also research, publishing and participating in community service. It is normal for me to work overtime.”
He said heavy workloads and professional requirements put great pressure on professors.
“Acquiring knowledge is a tough and painful process that requires great patience,” he continued. “We have spent a quarter of a century studying and not everyone can put up with that.”
Recently, local research sponsored by the Hong Kong Property Management and the Security Labor Union pointed out that the average salary of a university professor in Hong Kong is 22 times that of a janitor.
Prof. Leung considered it inappropriate to compare both salaries.
“The nature and inputs of these two jobs are different,” he explained. “Janitors don’t require a long period of learning and mental training.”
Prof. Jerry C.Y. Han is a professor in the School of Business at The University of Hong Kong.
Said he: “The teaching force is the core of education. High salaries can attract more top talent from overseas. Certainly, these will strengthen the faculty teams and thus benefit our students.”
According to Cheung Man Kwong, a member of the Education Commission, the salaries of teaching staff account for a huge proportion of educational expenditure.
“However, the salaries of teaching staff can’t be cut even though research funding needs boosting,” he insisted. “The quality of teaching staff should be guaranteed. It is worthwhile to give even higher salaries for well-known academics.”
Nevertheless, not all opinions fall on the same side.
A professor in the Department of Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, who requested that his name be withheld, agreed that professors’ salaries in Hong Kong are relatively high.
“During the economic downturn, some adjustment may be necessary. It would be acceptable to have a 10 percent cut during the depression.”
In fact, according to the Personnel Office of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, there was a salary cut of 4.42 percent in professors’ salaries in October.
“In order to relieve the financial pressure, it may be possible for universities to reduce the salary expenditures by cutting the number of teaching staff.
“Surely, this would result in heavy workloads for university professors. But this is reasonable since they are paid at a very high rate,” said the professor in the Department of Management.
Hung Tak Hing, a student at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said that professors’ salaries in Hong Kong are unreasonably high.
“Attention is paid to their research output rather than their performance in lectures.
“A qualified professor not only needs to be knowledgable, but also a good teacher,” he continued. “High salaries do attract talents. However, academics shouldn’t merely look at the money factor.”
Apart from the argument over the salary levels of professors in Hong Kong, Prof. Han said that there is also room for discussion about the current pay system of professors in Hong Kong.
A pegged wage system of university teaching staff with civil servants was established long time ago. In other words, the salaries of teaching staff in university are linked to the civil servants pay scale.
In Hong Kong, salaries of teaching staff are based on rank: professor, associate professor, assistant professor, senior lecturer, lecturer, and so on. Within the same rank, regardless of department affiliation, there is little salary differentiation.
“The system of having a fixed pay scale provides predictability and stability, but is inflexible,” Prof. Han said. “It is more suitable for the civil service.
“However, when it comes to higher education, this rigid pay scale prevents institutions from offering the highest possible salaries to recruit world-class scholars.”
It is suggested the government switch to a market-oriented pay system, in which the market determines the salary of each professor. At the same time, some fringe benefits, such as vacations and transport allowances, could be offered.
Said Prof. Han: “It would give the institutions freedom to have a better arrangement on resources by determining their own remuneration packages.
“In order to compete at an international level, universities in Hong Kong need more freedom and flexibility to determine the appropriate terms and conditions of services so that we can recruit and retain the most outstanding staff.
“In fact, this flexible system is applied in most of the institutions overseas and it is a global mainstream trend.”
But Prof. Han is not optimistic about the chance of changing the pay structure.
“It requires a firm and responsible governing body and heads of the institutes to ensure fair and acceptable salary differentiations if this flexible system really comes into effect.
“Under the current policy, there is little possibility to change the structure.”
Mr. Cheung described it as a “dangerous change”.
“If the government changes the pay system without enough consultation and careful planning,” he said, “it may affect the stability of society.”
Professors’ salaries in HK and U.S. Compared
By Scarlett Shi
According to the Personnel Office of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, the monthly income of a full professor in the university ranges from $78,605 to $104,430, depending on seniority. For associate professors, the monthly salary ranges from $64,800 to $81,015.
In the United States, universities adopt a market-oriented pay system, which categorizes professors into two main streams, in the top-quartile or the bottom-quartile disciplines.
The average annual salary of the former is US$96,415, while that of the latter is US$72,134, which are equivalent to HK$63,000 and HK$47,000 per month, respectively.
In addition, some fringe benefits, including a 3-month vacation, are offered in the United States.
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