The Ministry of Science and Technology yesterday announced the preliminary results of a study that has followed about 55,000 junior-high school students since 2001, which it said reveals information about the relationships between class mobility, education levels, gender, employment, social connections and generational differences.
The study comprised an analysis of interviews with 3,977 respondents about their educational attainment and socioeconomic status, which were conducted in 2010 when they were aged between 25 and 26, National Chengchi University sociology professor Kuan Ping-yin (關秉寅) said.
The study found that a participant whose father had a college degree or above was twice as likely to have a master’s degree as a respondent whose father did not have a college degree, while respondents whose father has a degree from a vocational school are twice as likely to attend a vocational school-turned-university as respondents whose father has a college degree, which suggests that social class is being passed from one generation to the next, Kuan said.
Respondents from wealthier families are more likely not to be in education or employment, with 18 percent of respondents from families with a combined monthly income of more than NT$100,000 unemployed, compared with 16 percent of respondents with a combined family income of less than NT$20,000 per month, Kuan said.
Nearly 75 percent of female respondents have a college degree, and about 60 percent of male respondents. However, about 22 percent of male respondents have a master’s degree, compared with 15 percent of female respondents.
Men had higher salaries than women who have equivalent levels of education, as male respondents with a master’s degree earned NT$47,000 a month, while female respondents with a master’s degree earned only NT$38,000; the average salaries for men and women with a college degree were NT$32,000 and NT$30,000 respectively.
The average salary of respondents was NT$28,000, while 25 percent earned NT$35,000 or more and 16 percent received NT$22,000 or less.
Women are more likely to challenge gender stereotypes, with 79 percent of female respondents disagreeing with the statement that being a housewife is more meaningful than working, compared with 60 percent of male respondents.
Of the female respondents, 58 percent believe that a married couple does not need to have a child, compared with 49 percent of the male respondents.
Of respondents with a college degree, 53.5 percent said they could apply what they learned at school in their job, compared with 50.8 percent of respondents with a degree from a vocational school-turned-university, Kuan said, adding that it could be due to the incomplete reorientation of former vocational schools.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS