The average age of doctoral students in Taiwan has risen 2.5 years in the past decade, to an average age of nearly 40 last year, the Ministry of Education’s latest data showed.
Su Wan-fen (蘇婉芬), head of the ministry’s Department of Statistics, said that the average age of doctoral students has been increasing yearly, from 36.8 in the 2013 school year to 39.1 in the 2019 school year, and 39.3 in the 2022 school year, increasing by about 2.5 years over a decade.
The average age of master’s degree students increased by 0.5 years over the past decade, from 29.7 in 2013 to 30.2 last year, she said, adding that the average age of all graduate students increased from 30.8 to 31.5.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
Department of Higher Education Director-General Lai Guan-wei (賴冠瑋) said that based on the University Act (大學法) and the Degree Conferral Act (學位授予法), students wishing to pursue a doctoral degree must have a master’s degree, and they are eligible to receive a doctoral degree if they complete their study period and meet other graduation requirements.
The ministry does not have an age limit for doctoral students, but respects universities’ guidelines on enrolling students, he said, adding that the ministry appreciates older students’ passion to learn.
National Chi Nan University president Wu Tung-hsing (武東星) said that many people delay pursuing a doctoral degree for economic reasons.
With about 90 percent of people aged 25 to 39 in the workforce, many young people are eager to become financially independent, so they often seek to earn money before they consider pursuing a doctoral program, while some people choose to study while working, he said.
Providence University supervisor Michael Chen (陳振貴) said that most doctoral students are doing research or hoping to teach at a university, but a declining birthrate and fewer available teaching positions at universities is affecting people’s willingness to pursue a doctorate.
Many people might instead choose to elevate their career and self-value by working for several years before pursuing a doctoral degree, he said, adding that national pension reform has led some teachers to delay their retirement, which also affects the recruitment opportunities for new teachers, indirectly contributing to the older age of doctoral students.
Separately, the number of people taking civil service tests has significantly fallen in the past few years, from about 450,000 in 2013 to about 210,000 last year, Ministry of Examination data showed.
Minister of Examination Hsu Shu-hsiang (許舒翔) on Friday said that the Constitution protects people’s right to take public examinations and to hold public offices, so there is no age limit for taking civil service tests.
However, civil servants are supposed to retire at 65, and as government agencies value younger workers and young people have an advantage in written exams, fewer older people are taking the tests, he said.
Of the 210,559 candidates who took a civil service exam last year, 178,504 were aged 18 to 40, accounting for about 85 percent of the total, while about 24,000 were aged 41 to 50, 6,795 were 51 to 60 and 355 were 61 or older.
Of the 13,661 people who passed a civil service exam last year, more than 90 percent (12,387 people) were aged 18 to 40, while 318 were aged 51 to 60 and 14 were 61 or older.
Hsu said that in an aging society, older people have more experience, but due to the nature of some civil service jobs, the positions have an age limit, such as 30 for the special exam for investigative agents, 35 for intelligence personnel and civil aviation personnel, and 37 for grade three and grade four police officers.
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