從制度論與密度依賴性談高等教育組織擴張歷程

Institutional Impacts and Density Dependence in Taiwan’s Higher Education Development

自1950年代迄今，臺灣高等教育的組織發展呈現「穩定→增生→穩定」的過程，與密度依賴性所主張的發展路徑相似。然而，高等教育的發展不是植基於自由市場，密度依賴性是否可以說明臺灣的高等教育發展，便值得進一步討論。本研究從制度論與密度依賴性分析此組織發展歷程，以討論理論的適用情形。分析結果顯示，政府的教育發展政策引導了高等教育的發展，並循「公立學校先行，私立學校跟進」的模式，不論是增設大學、專科升格、大學轉型或是博碩士班擴張，均是如此。亦即，臺灣高等教育的組織發展路徑呈現與密度依賴性所主張的模式同形卻異質。而觀察系所擴張歷程時，發現模仿、複製可以說明增生期的組織行為，但是科系關門與轉型的出現，並非出現在總學生數減少時，而是受制度性因素影響較多。整體而言，臺灣高等教育的組織發展走勢與密度依賴性所描繪的相似，但是發展過程並不完全符合密度依賴性的解釋，必須加入更多制度論觀點，才能獲得較完整的說明。

The dynamic graphic for higher education development in Taiwan since 1950 is similar to the demonstration of density dependence. However, since that development was not based on an open competitive market, it is worth discussing whether density dependence is the best explanation for the resulting development pattern. This study uses a combination of institutionalism and density dependence to address this question. Study results indicate that higher education development in Taiwan was directly affected by the country's education policy, even though a dynamic graphic of that development indicates density dependence in different contexts. The data also indicate that departmental expansion patterns (both imitation and reproduction) were directly influenced by institutional factors, with evidence of mortality and transformation prior to declining enrollment. My conclusion is that density dependence is not available as an explanatory factor in the development of higher education in Taiwan, and that an institutional perspective provides a more complete explanation.