台灣學生的大學選擇及求學路徑之探究(II)

Taiwan higher education has expanded and become a universal system. Opportunities to access college have been greatly increased for disadvantaged students who were historically underrepresented in higher education. However, after college graduation, students' labor-market outcomes differ by gender, race, and socioeconomic status. Therefore, this study seeks to know more about social stratification within higher education. Literature shows that differences in the type of institution students attend at the college level stratify groups along the socioeconomic line, leading to differential labor-market opportunities and outcomes after graduation. While identifying social stratification in the type of institution attended, research does not address concerns about many choices that students face between college enrollment and graduation. As students' choices of college majors and pathways are related to their graduation and future labor-market outcomes, this study seeks to add to the literature by examining how choices of college majors and pathways vary by their backgrounds, and whether these differences represent an additional layer of stratification in higher education that impacts students' future outcomes. Taiwan Education Panel Survey and its follow-ups will be used in this study because these two databases followed a nationally representative cohort who were born between 1984-85 ten years, from 2001 (when they were high school sophomores) to 2010 (when they were at ages 25-26), thus provide this study substantial data to understand how the patterns of college students' choices of majors and pathways are related to their backgrounds and high school preparation, and then would influence future labor-market outcomes.