







































 

 

 

 

 

An Empirical Study of the Influence of 

Continuing Education on Youth 

Entrepreneurship in Taiwan

Chang-Qing Liu
1
, Jeffrey Hugh Gamble

2
, I Hua Chen

3

1. Panyapiwat Institute of Management, Nonthaburi, Thailand 

2. National Chiayi University, Taiwan 

3. Qufu Normal University, Shandong, China 

 

Abstract. Despite the importance of lifelong education and its reported 
benefits for graduates entering the workforce, few empirical studies have 
evaluated the relationship between continuing education on entrepre-
neurship. In order to address this research gap, this study conducted 
secondary data analysis from the 2015 Adult Education Survey in Tai-
wan (AEST 2015) conducted by the Taiwan Ministry of Education. The 
purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of youth engaged 
in entrepreneurship (as measured by self-employment) and evaluate the 
relationship between continuing education and youth entrepreneurship. 
A sample from Taiwan was purposefully selected due to cultural factors 
which balance Eastern and Western approaches to education, allowing 
for better generalizability to a variety of populations. Data from a total 
of 2,696 valid participants was utilized. The results are as follows: a) the 
rate of youth entrepreneurship in Taiwan is moderate, at 8%; b) partici-
pation in continuing education demonstrated no significant relationship 
on youth entrepreneurship; c) entrepreneurial youth tend not to partici-
pate in continuing education, citing reasons including “lack of time” 
and “lack of necessary courses” at a frequency higher than non-
entrepreneurial youth; and d) in terms of opportunities for future partic-
ipation in continuing education, entrepreneurial youth placed less em-
phasis on the importance of transportation costs and tuition fees as 
compared to non-entrepreneurial youths. The results of this study sug-
gest that continuing education courses are not currently meeting the 

 

 

 



Liu, et al. Continuing Education on Youth Entrepreneurship in Taiwan 

Vol.3, No.2, 2019 332 

needs of young entrepreneurs. Conclusions and suggestions are provid-
ed in terms of the evaluation of youth self-employment and continuing 
education opportunities for the promotion of entrepreneurship. 

Best Evid Chin Edu 2019; 3(2):331-346. 
Doi: 10.15354/bece.19.ar1261. 

Keywords: Taiwan Youth; Self-employment; Entrepreneurship; Continuing Edu-
cation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Correspondence to: Jeffrey Hugh Gamble, Department of Foreign Languages, National Chiayi University. Taiwan. 
E-mail: gamble@mail.ncyu.edu.tw. 
About the Author: Chang-Qing Liu, Panyapiwat Institute of Management, Nonthaburi, Thailand. E-mail: 
Lcqing619@foxmail.com. 
I Hua Chen, Chinese Academy of Education Big Data, Qufu Normal University, Shandong, China. E-mail: 
aholechen@gmail.com. 
Funding: Jining Social Science Research Project (Project No. 19JSGX018). 
Conflict of Interests: None. 



Liu, et al. Continuing Education on Youth Entrepreneurship in Taiwan 

Vol.3, No. 2, 2019 333 

Introduction 

ELF-employment ideally allows theoretical knowledge to be applied directly to 

gain advantages in the employment market, including increased savings, wealth 

creation, and social mobility (Quadrini, 1999). Greater attention is being paid to 

the cultivation of practical and applied skills to meet the demands of industry, leading to 

a boom in research related to self-employment in recent years (Jia, et al., 2018). In 

terms of youth entrepreneurial, early advances in universities near Silicon Valley (Bates 

& Bates, 1997) began to establish links between the pragmatic demands of society and 

industry and university course content, overturning traditional theory- of higher educa-

tion while simultaneously prompting an upsurge in youth entrepreneurship education 

around the world. In China, for example, “Popular innovation, entrepreneurship” has 

become a central educational policy aimed at promoting China’s economic transfor-

mation, upgrading and improving the quality and efficiency of teaching and learning, 

and promoting the development of an innovative and competitive nation (State Council 

of the People’s Republic of China, 2015). In fact, it is considered a fundamental social 

goal of developed and developing nations to foster the value-creation and “job making” 

potentials of youth through entrepreneurship initiatives (Arend, 2019). 

Many scholars have begun to scrutinize the issue of youth entrepreneurship, fo-

cusing on how institutes of education can provide suitable curricula to meet the needs of 

students for fostering entrepreneurship at both the secondary and post-secondary levels. 

In terms of courses provided to high school students, some research has found an im-

provement in students’ perceptions of the feasibility of entrepreneurial endeavors, but 

no change in their intention to seek self-employment, with extra-curricular entrepre-

neurial experiences and students’ propensity towards entrepreneurship more predictive 

of entrepreneurial intention (Cardoso, et al., 2018). In terms of college students’ entre-

preneurship, Bao et al. (2018) urge universities to strengthen courses emphasizing inno-

vation and creativity while providing relevant practical training activities. A recent 

study of Nigerian college students analyzed their feelings regarding entrepreneurship 

education courses offered by the university, reporting a positive impact on self-

employment and recommending that universities provide opportunities for students to 

interact with industry partners and engage in small-scale projects or business ventures 

(Afolabi, et al., 2017). 

As a post-secondary education is increasing valued by youth seeking employ-

ment, college education and youth entrepreneurship should be closely linked. Neverthe-

less, although universities provide systematic and well-designed courses intended to 

have a direct effect on youth entrepreneurship, the role of continuing education must be 

evaluated. That is, the relationship between continuing education opportunities offered 

to youth after graduation and youth entrepreneurship should be evaluated. Due to the 

lack of continuing education institutes emphasizing entrepreneurship, developing relat-

ed curricula is a critical issue, particularly given the strong link between academic insti-

tutions and economic development (Chowdhury, et al., 2019). 

S 



Liu, et al. Continuing Education on Youth Entrepreneurship in Taiwan 

Vol.3, No. 2, 2019 334 

Research on entrepreneurship education at the university level noted that youth 

entrepreneurship could not solely rely on cultivation through curricula, but must take 

advantage of resources outside of the university (Afolabi et al., 2017). In fact, continu-

ing education is seen as pivotal in enhancing the “start-up” and “human capital” aspects 

of entrepreneurship (Ács, et al., 2018). In fact, according to Lim, et al. (2019, p. 74) 

continuing education must include instructional factors that can “(a) effectively deliver 

learning content, (b) model ways of being, (c) cultivate ways of thinking, (d) facilitate 

self-efficacy, and (e) contribute to forming a better society.” Part of this involves expe-

riential and hands-on learning, thus meeting the criteria of scholars who promote in-

creased use of projects and links to industry partners (Afolabi, et al., 2017; Bao, et al., 

2018; Cardoso, et al., 2018).  

In sum, current studies on entrepreneurship education have largely concentrat-

ed on formal higher education environments, neglecting the potentially powerful role of 

continuing education in promoting youth entrepreneurship. The few studies on continu-

ing education and entrepreneurship (Liberto, 2005; Wada & Muhammad, 2010) have 

failed to empirically evaluate the relationship between continuing education and youth 

entrepreneurship. To bridge this literature gap, this study used data from the 2015 

“Adult Education Survey in Taiwan” (AEST 2015) released by Taiwan’s Ministry of 

Education (2018) and conducted secondary analysis.  

The rationale for using data from Taiwan is due its unique blend of western and 

eastern cultures (Sun & Huang, 2018) leading to what Yang (2019, p. 15) refers to as “a 

mix of globalization, internationalization, religion, historic legacy, national policy, and 

local knowledge.” The difference between Eastern and Western environments has also 

been discussed in relation to youth entrepreneurship (Wang & Millington, 2011), find-

ing that Chinese students were more strongly influenced by work experience, while 

Americans considered family background factors more seriously. Taiwan, on one hand, 

is deeply influenced by western culture (especially the United States), but also embraces 

Chinese traditional culture. Thus, this study uniquely seeks to use data from Taiwan to 

test the relationship between continuing education and youth education from a perspec-

tive where both Eastern and Western principles are valued, thus allowing us to cautious-

ly generalize these results in order to provide suggestions and contributions for re-

searchers and practitioners internationally. Based on data selected from the AEST 2015 

that investigates the participation of young people in continuing education and the na-

ture of their current employment, we can clarify how continuing education should be 

planned so as to have a positive effect on youth entrepreneurship. The four research 

questions of this study are: 

 What is the frequency of entrepreneurship (self-employment) among youth? 

 What is the frequency of participation in continuing education among youth? 

 Does continuing education influence the entrepreneurial behaviors of youth? 

 What differences exist between entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial youth in 

terms of  reasons for and against enrolling in continuing education? 

Literature Review 



Liu, et al. Continuing Education on Youth Entrepreneurship in Taiwan 

Vol.3, No. 2, 2019 335 

In recent years, there is a growing emphasis on the importance of self-employment. In 

terms of the influence of self-employment in individuals, research highlights both the 

benefits, such as potential mental and physical health benefits (Nikolova, 2019) and 

autonomy and work-life balance (Ortlieb, et al., 2017), as well as the drawbacks, such 

as stress and insomnia (Kollmann, et al., 2019) and relative insecurity and instability 

(Nazio & Gábos, 2017). Within the context of self-employment, international scholars 

have paid increasing attention to youth entrepreneurship, in particular. However, most 

studies discuss the incentive policies of local governments (eg., Rapp, et al., 2018) and 

policy support for innovation and entrepreneurship curriculum design by universities 

(Liu, 2018).  

Research on Youth Entrepreneurship in Taiwan 

While the government in Taiwan has proposed policies to encourage youth entrepre-

neurship (Ministry of Education, 2009), few studies have been conducted related to en-

trepreneurship. Most studies related to youth entrepreneurship have evaluated university 

environmental or policy factors unrelated to continuing education (eg., Yu, et al., 2017). 

One empirical study found in the literature was by Chen et al., (2015) who found no 

significant improvement in entrepreneurial intention after offering lectures by entrepre-

neurial industry experts, stating that hands-on experiences are more influential, while 

other traditional formal educational approaches add little to the promotion of youth en-

trepreneurship. Another study compared Taiwanese and Hong Kong university students, 

emphasizing the role of personality (Hsu & Wang, 2019), which is certainly a potential 

factor, but does not provide any recommendations for educational approaches for fos-

tering youth entrepreneurship. Another paper offered general policy recommendations, 

without evaluating empirical data (Feng, 2016).   

Most scholars, in fact, have explored the issue of youth employment from a 

broader perspective, largely emphasizing factors predicting youth employment instead 

of focusing on entrepreneurship. For example, Ding and Yan (2011) examined potential 

relevant factors influencing college students’ employment, investigating the mediating 

effect of self-cognition and interpersonal relationships. From an even broader perspec-

tive, Liu and Lin (2011) explored the relationship among individual-level factors, learn-

ing outcomes, and graduation trends for different types of college students.  

Research on Continuing Education in Taiwan 

In addition to the lack of studies on youth entrepreneurship, very few studies related to 

continuing education in Taiwan have been published, apart from some which relate to 

adult education that target older segments of the population. Among the few examples 

in the literature with relevance to continuing education for youth are papers focused on 

the need for innovation (Lu, et al., 2016) and learner loyalty (Wang & Hsu, 2016) to 

enhance the competitiveness of continuing educational institutes. While innovative 

practices for enhancing youth entrepreneurship and attracting and retaining students in 

continuing education programs are important issues, the literature from Taiwan is lack-



Liu, et al. Continuing Education on Youth Entrepreneurship in Taiwan 

Vol.3, No. 2, 2019 336 

ing in providing any suggestions related to entrepreneurship of any kind. Likewise, 

while other studies have been conducted with institutions for continuing education, the 

focus has been overwhelmingly on the health profession, such as nursing, which is not 

an appropriate avenue for self-employment.  

Thus, some recommendations for continuing education must be found from the 

international literature. However, here too the literature is scant. Of the few papers 

found relevant to youth entrepreneurship in the context of continuing education are the 

following examples. In the context of non-formal education, overall, Pantea (2015) 

suggests that curricula should emphasize raising awareness of the social challenges fac-

ing young entrepreneurs. Bhat and Khan (2014) found that, while not currently being 

successfully executed, continuing education for entrepreneurship should provide re-

search-based and needs-based instruction with more available courses. Karimi, et al. 

(2010) reiterate the general recommendations most commonly cited in the literature, 

such as the need for clear policy, industry-academic collaboration, embeddedness 

across the school curricula, and the use of hands-on projects to foster youth entrepre-

neurship. 

Evaluating the Relationship between Continuing Education 

and Youth Entrepreneurship 

As the concept of lifelong learning becomes more prevalent, continuing education is has 

become more important and valued. In particular, Technical and Vocation Education 

(TVE) in Taiwan has received a great deal attention from policy-makers, and funding 

for continuing education for TVE has been increased, with the Ministry of Education 

[MOE] (2010, p. 42) noting that “occupational continuing education must be more 

strongly promoted, and designed with a key focus on flexibility and practicality.” As 

such, the MOE advocates for developing creative thinking, increasing entrepreneurship-

related courses, skill-based instruction, rewards for entrepreneurial performance, and 

offering business planning and counseling services (MOE, 2010) . Thus, compared to 

school-based entrepreneurial courses emphasizing theory and lacking in practical skills 

training, continuing education should emphasize the synergy of knowledge and practice 

(Jin, 2008). Logically, continuing education should be associated with youth entrepre-

neurship by instilling key competences required for youth entrepreneurship, and the 

motivation to pursue self-employment opportunities. Demonstrating this close relation-

ship between continuing education and youth entrepreneurship, Liao (2013) pointed out 

that both the Taiwan and the Japanese governments provide courses specifically for 

young entrepreneurs. 

Although a positive relationship between continuing education and youth en-

trepreneurship is expected, some specific questions must be explored. For example, the 

lack of relevant empirical evidence related to the role continuing education in develop-

ing youth entrepreneurship, and data on which continuing education pipelines are most 

effective. The evaluation of specific factors related to continuing education, such as 

tuition, class time, and course content, have yet to be clearly evaluated based on empiri-

cal data in terms of their contribution to youth entrepreneurship. As such, this study 



Liu, et al. Continuing Education on Youth Entrepreneurship in Taiwan 

Vol.3, No. 2, 2019 337 

uses responses from youth, aged 18 to 35, in relation to their entrepreneurship (evaluat-

ed by self-employment) and their participation in and perspectives towards continuing 

education. 

Research Method 

This study adopted data from the AEST 2015 survey in order to conduct secondary 

analysis. This section describes the data source, the background of subjects, and the 

corresponding data which was analyzed. 

Data Source and the Background of Subjects 

Since 2009, the Ministry of Education (MOE) of Taiwan has conducted a nationwide 

large-scale adult education survey every three years, entitled “Adult Education Survey 

in Taiwan”. The last survey was conducted in 2015 and released by the MOE in 2018 

(Ministry of Education [MOE], 2018). The result of the survey released by the MOE 

serves as the source of the data used in this study. In the AEST 2015 survey, the popula-

tion included adult over the age of 18 who were not currently enrolled in a formal edu-

cational institute (while students in continuing educational institutions were included). 

The survey was conducted through telephone interviews which asked respondents to 

answer all items from a questionnaire. Random sampling was carried out based on an 

established electronic database of telephone numbers from each town and urban area in 

Taiwan. The telephone interview was conducted with a random digital dialing (RDD) 

method for computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). The data were evaluated 

for outliers, which were then removed systematically. At a confidence level of 95%, the 

sampling error was estimated at ±0.93% overall and between ±3.00% and ±5.66% for 

each county surveyed (MOE, 2018). Expert validity for the instrument was established 

a) through consultation meetings with experts before the questionnaire was finalized 

and b) the use of the questionnaire on four separate occasions. The representativeness of 

the questionnaire results in terms of location and gender were established through Chi-

squared tests.  

From the entire dataset of 11,000 participants, a sample of 2,696 youth between 

the ages of 18 and 35 was selected (1,249 males and 1,447 females; 1,412 unmarried 

and 1,284 married) for analysis.  

Measurement  

Among the variables evaluated by the AEST 2015, respondents were asked about their 

current work and participation in continuing education during their past year. For the 

purposes of this study, we have selected the following four relevant aspects for second-

ary analysis. 

Work in the Past Year 



Liu, et al. Continuing Education on Youth Entrepreneurship in Taiwan 

Vol.3, No. 2, 2019 338 

According to the data from AEST 2015, we further classified respondents into two cat-

egories: “self-employed” and “employed by others” according to Question 7 of the de-

mographic section posed to participants, which reads “What was your employment situ-

ation last year?” with options of “employer,” “privately hired,” civil servant,” “unpaid 

family work,” and “self-employed,” in addition to “unemployed.”  

Involvement in Continuing Education 

The demographic section of the AEST 2015 also asks respondents regarding their par-

ticipation in continuing education during over the past year. Question 8 asks students 

“Which of the following type educational organization do you belong to?” With a total 

of 18 possible items including various forms of continuing education (e.g. study courses 

organized by government or private organizations) in addition to options including var-

ious types of universities. If respondents indicated that they have participated in contin-

uing education, a code of 1 was used for the data set. For respondents who did not par-

ticipate in continuing education, a code of 2 was used. 

Reasons for Not Participating in Continuing Education 

In the “adult education” section of the AEST 2015 survey, Question 23 asks respond-

ents “What is the most important reason why you did not participate in learning activi-

ties last year?” Reasons for not participating in any continuing education include “eco-

nomic considerations,” “lack of time,” and “traffic inconvenience” and are listed in full 

in Table 3 below. Participants were restricted to the selection of one choice which was 

considered most important to them. 

Reasons for Willingness to Participate in Continuing Education in the Fu-

ture 

In view of whether the participants will participate in continuing education in the future, 

the “adult education” section of the AEST 2015 includes question 26, “If you have the 

opportunity to participate in education in the future, how important are the following 

factors? Responses to five-point Likert-type responses ranging from very important to 

very unimportant, including eight items, such as class time, tuition fees, and location, 

which are listed in full in Table 4 below. 

Data Analysis 

For the first research question regarding the frequency of entrepreneurship (self-

employment) among youth the proportion of young entrepreneurs in Taiwan, and the 

second research question regarding the frequency of youth participating in continuing 

education, relevant data were first evaluation by descriptive statistics, including the per-

centage of youth reporting self-employment. Then, z-tests were used to test whether the 

difference between the proportion of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs was statisti-

cally significant, as well as to compare the results of entrepreneurship and continuing 

education reported in the literature. A z test was the suitable analysis for determining 



Liu, et al. Continuing Education on Youth Entrepreneurship in Taiwan 

Vol.3, No. 2, 2019 339 

whether a difference in observed counts is significantly different from the expected 

proportion.  

For the third research question, evaluating the relationship between continuing 

education and youth entrepreneurship, we first conducted a Chi-squared analysis to 

evaluate the correspondence between involvement in continuing education and entre-

preneurship.  

To answer the fourth research question, two approaches were needed. Since re-

sponses regarding reasons for not enrolling in continuing education utilized count data 

(single option), Chi-squared analysis was used to determine the significance of adjusted 

residuals, in order to determine the significance of differences between entrepreneurial 

and non-entrepreneurial youth. The data for reasons related to being willing to partici-

pate in continuing education in the future was based on Likert-type responses. As such, 

we used independent t-tests to evaluate the significance of the difference between the 

two groups in terms of the importance placed on each item. 

Results 

The Proportion of Entrepreneurship in Taiwan Youth 

Descriptive statistics show that from the 2,696 youth aged 18 to 35 years that were sur-

veyed, only 234 (8%) were classified as entrepreneurs, with the remaining 2,459 (94%) 

classified as non-entrepreneurial. The results of the z-test demonstrate that the propor-

tion of entrepreneurs differed significantly from random chance, or a proportion of .5, 

(z = -42.91, p <0.01), with the number entrepreneurial youth significantly lower than 

non-entrepreneurial youth. A more reasonable comparison, based on a report by Inter-

national Labour Office (2017), would be the estimated global self-employment rates of 

6.8% for upper-middle income countries and 23% for low-income countries. Using the-

se proportions, Taiwan’s youth entrepreneurship is actually higher than the average rate 

for upper-middle income countries (z = 3.87, p<0.01), while lower than the average rate 

for lower-income countries (z = -17.67, p<0.01). When compared to the youth self-

employment rate in mainland China of around 15%, estimated by calculating employ-

ment and self-employment values from the report by Wang, Bao, Cao, and Kring 

(2016), Taiwanese youth have a relatively lower level of self-employment (z = -9.19, p 

<0.01). As compared to Japan, with an overall self-employment rate of 4.6% (Niiyama, 

et al., 2018), Taiwanese youth demonstrated greater entrepreneurship (z = 10.11, 

p<0.01).  

The Proportion of Youth Participating in Continuing Educa-

tion 

Descriptive statistics show that from the 2,696 youth aged 18 to 35 years that were sur-

veyed, 889 (33%) enrolled in continuing education, with the remaining 1,804 (67%) not 

taking any form of continuing education. The results of the z-test demonstrate that pro-

portion of students enrolled or not enrolled in continuing education differed significant-



Liu, et al. Continuing Education on Youth Entrepreneurship in Taiwan 

Vol.3, No. 2, 2019 340 

ly from random chance, or a proportion of .5, (z = -17.68, p<0.01), with the number of 

youth in continuing education significantly lower than those who were not. A more rea-

sonable comparison, based on a report by Organization for Economic Co-operation and 

Development (2010), would be the average continuing education enrollment rate for 

OECD countries of 40%. Using these proportions, Taiwan’s continuing education en-

rollment rate is lower than the average rate for OECD countries (z = -7.45, p <0.01), 

and lower than the averages of other Asian countries, such as Japan (42%) and Korea 

(50%), as reported in (OECD, 2018).  

The Relationship between Continuing Education and the En-

trepreneurship of Taiwanese Youth 

In order to address the third research question, Chi-squared analysis was conducted (see 

Table 1), with the results showing that the enrollment in continuing education did not 

affect entrepreneurship (χ
2
 = 0.07, p = 0.80).  

The Importance of Factors Influencing Youth Future En-

rollment in Continuing Education 

To answer the fourth research question, we first examined differences in terms of the 

reasons for not participating in continuing education between entrepreneurial and non-

entrepreneurial youth. The overall Chi-square test results demonstrated that there were 

differences within the cross column table (χ
2
 = 26.61, p = 0.01) (see Table 2). Since 

adjusted standardized residuals match the t-distribution, adjusted residuals greater than 

an absolute value of 1.96 are significant at p < 0.05. The items for “lack of time” and 

“not providing the required course” met this criterion.  

Finally, regarding factors influencing willingness to enroll in continuing educa-

tion in the future, independent t-test results show that the two groups only have signifi-

cant differences in terms of “tuition fees” and “transportation costs” (see Table 3). The-

se items were perceived as less important by entrepreneurial respondents as compared 

to non-entrepreneurial respondents: tuition fees (t = 3.29, p = 0.01, d = 0.24) and trans-

portation (t = 2.76, p = 0.04, d = 0.20). It should also be noted that course content, while 

not significantly different for the two groups, “course content” was deemed the most 

important factor, along with class time and location. 

Discussion 

Considering the importance of lifelong learning, continuing education has been advo-

cated and promoted globally (Karimi et al., 2010). However, despite the global upsurge 

of youth entrepreneurship (Jia et al., 2018), most studies focus on traditional college 

education with no studies empirically evaluating the role of continuing education. In 

order to bridge this gap, this study conducted secondary analysis of Taiwan’s AEST 

2015 data set, since Taiwan is considered to represent elements of both Eastern and 

Western cultures (Sun & Huang, 2018; Yang, 2019), and thus can serve as a valuable 



Liu, et al. Continuing Education on Youth Entrepreneurship in Taiwan 

Vol.3, No. 2, 2019 341 

Table 1. Cross Column Table for Entrepreneurship × Enrollment in 

Continuing Education. 

 Enrolled Not Enrolled 

Entrepreneurs 
n 79 155 

% 33.8% 66.2% 

Non-Entrepreneurs 
n 810 1649 

% 32.9% 67.1% 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 2. Cross Column Table of Entrepreneurship× Reasons for Not 

Participating in Continuing Education. 

Reasons for not Participating 

Counts 

Entrepreneurs 

Non- 

Entrepreneurs Total 

Adjusted 

Residuals 

Work restrictions 150 11 161 .8 

Economic considerations 17 0 17 1.3 

Lack of time 792 92 884 2.7* 

Family responsibilities are too 
heavy 

117 6 123 1.5 

Traffic inconvenience 13 3 16 1.5 

Disqualification 3 0 3 .5 

Required courses are not provided 52 11 63 2.6* 

Improper course time 20 4 24 1.4 

Don't know course information 143 7 150 1.8 

Health factors 19 0 19 1.3 

Not interested in learning 315 21 336 1.7 

Lack of confidence in learning 8 0 8 .9 

Total count 1,649 155 1,804  

Notes: χ
2
 (df = 11, N = 1,804) = 26.61, p =0.01. *indicates adjust residuals at the p < .05 level. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Liu, et al. Continuing Education on Youth Entrepreneurship in Taiwan 

Vol.3, No. 2, 2019 342 

Table 3. Summary of t-tests for Factors Influencing Intent to Enroll in 

Continuing Education. 

 

Mean (SD) t p 
Effect 

Size (d) 

Entrepreneurs 
(N=194) 

Non- 
Entrepreneurs 
(N=2,050) 

   

Course Content 1.62 (0.68) 1.64 (0.65) -0.33 0.74 0.03 

Institutional 

Reputation 
2.40 (1.08) 2.37 (1.03) 0.48 0.63 0.03 

Teacher 2.02 (1.01) 1.90 (0.84) 1.75 0.08 0.14 

Class Time 1.97 (0.85) 1.87 (0.81) 1.66 0.09 0.12 

Location 1.96 (0.86) 1.90 (0.85) 0.88 0.38 0.07 

Transportation 

Cost 
2.27 (1.07) 2.07 (0.97) 2.76 0.04* 0.20 

Tuition Fee 2.40 (1.06) 2.16 (0.99) 3.29 0.01* 0.24 

Interpersonal 

Factors 
3.28 (1.08) 3.25 (1.14) 0.38 0.71 0.00 

Notes: The higher the value, the less significant it is. According to Cohen (1998), the effect size for inde-
pendent t-tests adopt the d statistic with values below 0.2 indicates a small effect size. 

 

 

 

benchmark, as well as providing some generalizable results for other nations and cul-

tures. 

The first finding is that only 8% of Taiwan’s youth reported self-employment. 

While within the range of reported youth self-employment in Europe, but the range was 

from 4.3% to 11.1% in Germany (Ortlieb et al., 2017). Based on z-score analysis, Tai-

wan’s youth entrepreneurship was higher than the average rate for upper-middle income 

countries, including Japan (Niiyama et al., 2018), while lower that the average rate for 

lower-income countries, including China (Wang et al., 2016). Similarly, youth in Tai-

wan tend to not take the initiative towards pursuing continuing education, with far less 

participation than OECD countries and other developed Asian countries, such as Japan 

and Korea (OECD, 2018). We speculate that these phenomena reflect the blended na-

ture of Taiwan’s academic culture, positioned between traditional Chinese culture and 

Western culture. Thus while, Chinese culture, based on credentialism, tends to hold 

traditional academic higher education as a virtue at the expense of advocating youth 

independence and self-employment. Credentialism also places lower value on continu-

ing education. This fits with the findings of Thomas (2009) who argues that academic 

pressure is a major factor hindering young entrepreneurs’ willingness to start a business. 

On the other hand, Western aspects of Taiwan’s educational culture emphasize individ-

ualism, which encourages entrepreneurship (Wang, & Millington, 2011). Therefore, 

even though the Taiwan government strongly advocates and rewards youth entrepre-

neurship and promotes continuing education (Ministry of Education, 2009, 2010), full 

implementation of policy has yet to yield strong results. 



Liu, et al. Continuing Education on Youth Entrepreneurship in Taiwan 

Vol.3, No. 2, 2019 343 

Based on our findings, continuing education is not associated with youth entre-

preneurship. That is, enrollment or non-enrollment in continuing education demonstrat-

ed no relationship with youth entrepreneurship. This result is surprising, but may be due 

to the insufficiency of current continuing education programs in attracting, retaining, 

and inspiring learners to engage in entrepreneurship. Thus, in order to evaluate this 

finding, respondents’ reasons for not taking continuing education were evaluated for 

entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial Taiwanese youth. Specifically, young entrepre-

neurs were reluctant to take continuing education due to two reasons: “lack of time” and 

“not providing the required courses”. This can be explained by the fact that entrepre-

neurs often less free time (Kollmann et al., 2019) and may choose not to continue their 

studies as a result.  

However, the primary reason for their decision not to take continuing education 

courses is due to the reality that many neither official nor private continuing education 

institutions in Taiwan are currently providing the courses considered important for 

young entrepreneurs. This finding is potentially linked to the fact that entrepreneurs 

tend to be more autonomous and, as such, make responsible life decisions (Ortlieb et al., 

2017). For entrepreneurship education, it is crucial to provide appropriate curriculum 

content which is research based (Bhat & Khan, 2014) and is integrated and includes 

hands-on activities (Karimi et al., 2010). This corresponds to the recommendations of 

Yang, et al. (2019), who claim that the main reason why entrepreneurship education in 

universities fails in its expected role is that the curriculum is more theoretical than prac-

tical. Furthermore, by analyzing the factors influencing the willingness of youth to par-

ticipate in continuing education in the future, young entrepreneurs are less concerned 

with tuition fees and transportation issues than non-entrepreneurs. This might suggest 

that, if the course content fitted entrepreneurs’ needs, factors such as tuition fees and 

commuting time would not affect their perception of the value of the program and re-

sulting willingness to enroll.  

Conclusions and Limitations 

 This study utilized AEST 2015 data collected by the government, with good reliability 

and validity. However, the data is based on interviews that may have been conducted up 

to five years and, thus, may not adequately reflect the current situation in Taiwan. Nev-

ertheless, the results are a contribution, insofar as they demonstrate, with empirical data, 

the lack of correspondence between continuing education and entrepreneurship for 

youth, and the importance of factors such as time, course content, and classes fitting 

learners’ needs, and the relative lack of importance based on tuition and travel expenses, 

for entrepreneurial youth. 

Continuing education units must adapt to meet the challenges of increased 

competition, decreased funding, and widespread changes in educational delivery meth-

ods by fostering increased entrepreneurial activities (Downey, et al., 2006). However, 

according to our secondary analysis of AEST 2015 data, there is no strong relationship 

between continuing education and youth entrepreneurship in Taiwan. We suggest that 

educational reforms continue (MOE, 2010), according to the suggestions of scholars in 



Liu, et al. Continuing Education on Youth Entrepreneurship in Taiwan 

Vol.3, No. 2, 2019 344 

the area of youth entrepreneurship and continuing education, such as providing more 

practical experiences, and offering courses that will meet the needs of potential entre-

preneurs (Afolabi, et al., 2017; Bao, et al., 2018; Cardoso, et al., 2018). 

Furthermore, this study demonstrated that youth entrepreneurship in Taiwan is 

higher than more developed countries, but lower than developing countries, as well as 

mainland China. While this might be due to Taiwan’s unique culture educational culture 

blending Eastern and Western values, it should be noted that the majority of self-

employment in developing countries, as well as China, are family-based, agricultural, 

temporary, or non-contractual (International Labour Office, 2017). Self-employment is 

also associated with several negative outcomes, such as stress and insomnia (Kollmann 

et al., 2019) and insecurity and instability (Nazio & Gábos, 2017). As such, both the 

value and assessment of entrepreneurship should be further evaluated and other poten-

tial proxy variables explored in future studies. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Received: 12 September 2019 
Revised:  09 October 2019 

Accepted:  05 November 2019 
 

 


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	Article-IHuaChen-BECE_Maintext30Nov2019

