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The Developmental Outcome of Taiwanese Youth: Effects of Educational Tracking During Adolescence

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The Psychological Well-being of East Asian Youth

Part of the book series: Quality of Life in Asia ((QLAS,volume 2))

Abstract

Using panel data from the Taiwan Youth Project, this chapter investigates the association between educational tracking and the psychological well-being of youth from early adolescence to young adulthood. While adolescents’ mental health has been documented to be closely associated with educational performance, in a competitive educational system in East Asia, especially in Taiwan, tracking may have a more significant impact on mental health. We propose that the examinations for entrance to high school and college, along with the consequent general versus vocational tracking, are the structural bases. Results show that changes of the depressive growth curve correspond to the timing of entrance examinations, with five fluctuations. Students in the vocational track reveal better mental health before age 19 due to less involvement in educational competition, while students in the general track consistently report more depressive symptoms until age 20, when their human capital pays off by having better credentials in the job market competition. Among the four groups, vocational high graduates are the least resourceful group, with the highest depression on average. Hence, when studying the psychological well-being of East Asian youth, both the effect of educational competition and the tracking effect embedded in the educational system need to be considered.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In the seventh wave of the survey, only “loneliness” and “depressed mood” were measured. The depression scores of this wave were weighted by 7/2 to fit the range of scores in other waves.

  2. 2.

    The second item is reversely coded.

  3. 3.

    The estimated average depressive symptoms of age 21, which were unobserved in surveys, are obtained by applying linear interpolation.

  4. 4.

    Before controlling for educational tracks, the regressional coefficients of Time 6 were significantly negative (result unshown).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica, 128 Sec. 2 Academia Rd., Nankang, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan

    Chin-Chun Yi

  2. Department of Social Psychology, Shih-Hsin University, No. 1, Ln. 17, Sec. 1, Muzha Rd., Wenshan Dist., Taipei, 116, Taiwan, ROC

    Gang-Hua Fan

  3. Department of Sociology, Groningen University, Grote Rozenstraat 31, 9712 TG, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Ming-Yi Chang

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  1. Chin-Chun Yi
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  2. Gang-Hua Fan
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Correspondence to Chin-Chun Yi .

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  1. Research Fellow, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan R.O.C.

    Chin-Chun Yi

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Yi, CC., Fan, GH., Chang, MY. (2012). The Developmental Outcome of Taiwanese Youth: Effects of Educational Tracking During Adolescence. In: Yi, CC. (eds) The Psychological Well-being of East Asian Youth. Quality of Life in Asia, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4081-5_8

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