Ping-Yin Kuan

This study posits a bioecological positivity to success (BEPS) model and examines how diverse bioecological factors predict graduates’ career success. The BEPS model with an emphasis on hard (e.g. science, technology, engineering and mathematics [STEM]) and soft (e.g. interpersonal and critical thinking) skills generate a hypothetical model: positive aspects of person (mathematical/hard and affective/soft abilities), process (effective hard and soft competencies learning in higher education) and proximal contexts (original family income and present employment status) predict graduates’ career success (job income and perceived extrinsic, intrinsic and autonomy satisfaction) in early adulthood. Gender, studying STEM, and study years are also included as predictors in the path analysis as control. Path analyses examine the model with cohort data from the Taiwan Education Panel Survey (TEPS) and its follow-up (TEPS-B), which are longitudinal studies of a group of young people (n = 2,700) since grade 7 till age 24–25 years old. Results reveal that soft skills and employment play the most significant roles in graduates’ career success. Hard skills play a minor role. Findings support the BEPS model and provide implications for educational practices and policymaking to emphasise on soft skills learning, employability and entrepreneurship education.

The effect of shadow education or private supplementary education (PSE) on school achievement has been prolifically studied, but its impact on well-being remains understudied. This study examines the heterogeneous effect of PSE participation on school achievement and depression symptoms among high schoolers in Taiwan. The study uses panel data of the Taiwan Upper Secondary Database (TUSD) in the 2014 and 2015 academic years. We join the inverse-probability-of-treatment weighting (IPTW) approach and the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) model to estimate the effects of PSE participation patterns on two correlated outcomes, comprehensive assessment of high school entrance examination and self-reported depression symptoms in the 11th grade. The latent class analysis identifies five PSE participation patterns: always-taker, early-adopter, dropout, late-adopter, and explorer, to predict the effect of PSE on the scores of entrance examination and later depression symptoms in high school (n = 7708, mean age = 15.33). The findings suggest that PSE participation in junior high is positively associated with academic achievement. However, PSE participation also increases depression symptoms, particularly in the case of always-takers. In other words, while always-takers increase their school achievement in transition into high school, their risks of suffering from depression are also higher than their peers.

The paper proposes a counterfactual analysis to estimate the causal effects of college expansion on the changes in income and occupational prestige of young people in Taiwan. The public attributes the rapid expansion of higher education in Taiwan in the mid 1990s as a significant cause of stagnant wage growth and high unemployment rates of college graduates in recent years. The primary concern in evaluating the policy consequences of educational expansion should be on those who would respond to expanded opportunities for education. In this paper, we use the data collected by the Panel Study of Family Dynamics in Taiwan to identify a pre‐expansion cohort and a post‐expansion cohort. We then use the matching method and the difference‐in‐difference (DID) model to estimate the impact of expansion on the changes in income and occupational prestige of three counterfactual groups: ‘always‐takers’, ‘compliers’, and ‘never‐takers’. The results show that the impact of college expansion decreased the advantage of always‐takers and benefited compliers in both income and occupational attainment of their first job. The adverse effects of college expansion suffered by always‐takers disappeared after working for either 10 or 15 years, which fits the prediction of the signalling theory.摘要: 本研究以反事實分析架構之角度，探討台灣高教擴張對年輕世代之薪資與職業流動的影響。本研究使用臺灣「華人家庭動態資料庫」於2003年及2009年的新增樣本及其後續追蹤調查，先配對並建構出無論高教擴張是否一定會上大學之「必為者」、順應高教擴張而有機會上大學之「順勢而為者」，以及無論高教擴張與否都不會上大學之「必不為者」等三類群體，藉此避免因擴張前後高教人口組成結構不同而無法直接比較的問題。研究結果發現，就順勢而為者言，高教擴張對其初職薪資和職業聲望有著正面影響，且持續到就業十年和十五年後；對必為者而言，高教擴張對其初職薪資和職業聲望有著負面影響，但雖著工作經驗的累積，該負面影響消失。整體而言，本文的研究成果支持訊號論的主張。

The role of private supplementary tutoring in the well-being of youth has been speculated upon but remains understudied. Using data from the Taiwan Educational Panel Survey gathered in 2001 and 2003, this study joins the inverse-probability-of-treatment weighting approach and seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) model to estimate effects of cram schooling on two correlated outcomes: academic achievement and depressive symptoms in Grade 9. The findings suggest that 9th grade cram schooling has a positive effect on both academic achievement and depression in Grade 9. In other words, while cram schooling increases 9th graders’ academic achievement, it raises the risk of depression as well.

The Hakka people, the largest ethno-linguistic minority group in Taiwan, have found their ethnic language retention diminishing. Using the data collected by the Taiwan Education Panel Survey and Beyond in 2010, we are the first to study its reason for decrease. Results indicate that out-marriage amongst Hakka people and losing ethnic concentration are the major factors preventing Hakka language retention.

Obesity has become a major health risk in industrialized countries, with disturbed sleep identified as a correlate. This study used data drawn from Taiwan's 2005 Social Development Trend Survey on Health and Safety and the propensity-score-matching method to shed light on gender-specific associations between sleep problems and obesity among 24,113 adults aged 20-64 years. The average increase in obesity prevalence among respondents with disrupted sleep was 1.85%, as compared to those who did not report disrupted sleep, with similar psycho-social attributes. Similarly, the prevalence of obesity among those who reported restless sleep was increased by an average of 1.40% compared to those who did not report restless sleep with similar psycho-social attributes. We also found gender-specific vulnerability to different types of sleep problems. Among men who reported disrupted sleep, we found a 3.12% increase in the prevalence of obesity. Among women exposed to restless sleep, the increase in obesity prevalence was 1.84%. The observed gender difference in the prevalence of increases in obesity may be attributed to gender-specific behavioral responses to poor sleep. With poor sleep, men may respond to hunger by overeating; women may respond by physical inactivity. Both can contribute to an elevated risk of obesity.

Previous studies point out that family experience is strongly linked to adolescents’ adjustment in school and has a central status in the field of educational sociology. However, the mechanism that operates between parental marital discord and Taiwanese adolescent children’s future academic achievement is not clear. The purposes of this study were to examine the impact of parental marital conflict on adolescents’ academic achievement and to determine if maternal parenting practices mediated or moderated the impact. Drawing on responses from 931 pairs of Taiwanese mothers and adolescent children, a longitudinal data collection approach using panel design provided repeated measurement of marital discord. Over the course of two years, adolescents reported on their academic achievements and their perceptions of maternal parenting practices while mothers completed questionnaires evaluating marital discord. The results of this study supported a spilled-over effect (partial mediation) model but failed to support a compensation (moderation) model. Overall, marital discord not only had a direct negative effect on adolescent academic achievement but also demonstrated an indirect impact through less desirable and adverse parenting practices with adolescent children.

The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study is to describe the commonality of the lived experience of suicide survivors and how it influences their family relationships in Taiwan from a sociocultural perspective. Thirteen suicide survivors have participated in this study. Study results reveal that some survivors blame themselves, some blame others, and some are blamed by their family as part of their need to find a reason for the death. Consequently, family members ignore each other and treat each other as if they are invisible. These Chinese suicide survivors, unlike Western survivors, maintain their strained family connections because of strong cultural influences. Therefore, health professionals should acknowledge the experiences of living with an invisible family when supporting Chinese suicide survivors.