The Ministry of Education is launching pilot post-baccalaureate programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for people with a bachelor’s degree in non-science fields, with an aim to cultivate cross-disciplinary talents needed in the semiconductor industry.
Starting in the new school semester from Aug. 1, the pilot program is the first to be launched in five universities — National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), National Chin-Yi University of Technology (NCUT), Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU), Minghsin University of Science and Technology (MUST), and Lunghwa University of Science and Technology (LHU) — with 450 students enrolled.
The ministry said it might take full-time students one year and part-time students two years, at the fastest, to complete the program and find a job in the semiconductor industry.
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
Department of Higher Education official Lee Hui-min (李惠敏) said the pilot program was launched for increasing the capacity of STEM talent training and linking the resources of the industry, and at the initial stage, the ministry has asked universities with STEM departments or bachelor’s degree programs about their willingness to start the program.
As NYCU plans to recruit 50 students for the program in each of the fall and spring semesters, NYCU vice president Chen Yung-fu (陳永富) said the students need to take 12 compulsory subjects, including semiconductor manufacturing process, in two years.
The program includes industry-academia cooperation with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp and GlobalWafers Co, he said.
NCUT plans to recruit 50 students in the spring semester, the university’s director of student recruitment Huang Ching-jen (黃敬仁) said, adding that the program’s courses are mainly in the evening and weekend.
NCUT Department of Electronic Engineering head Wu Chi-chang (吳其昌) said the instructors would collaborate with experts from TSMC and flat-panel maker AUO Corp, and that students can receive training at semiconductor companies.
LHU plans to recruit 40 students in each of fall and spring semesters, with required courses in the evening including 18 credits of fundamental theory courses and 30 credits of practical courses.
CYCU plans to recruit 50 students in each of the fall and spring semesters, and the program includes training courses in collaboration with Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc and Cadence Design Systems Inc.
MUST plans to recruit a total of 120 students, and students are expected to complete their training in three semesters at the fastest.
Meanwhile, the number of undergraduate students in STEM fields are gradually reducing each year.
The ministry’s statistics show there were about 380,000 STEM students in the 2022-2023 school year, about 5,000 and 10,000 students fewer than the previous school year and the 2018 school year respectively.
With the ministry’s multiple approaches, the proportion of STEM students have rebounded, from 31.15 percent in the 2017 school year to 33.3 percent in the 2022-2023 school year, Department of Higher Education Director-General Chu Chun-chang (朱俊彰) said.
The ministry should narrow the gender gap in STEM, which is a global phenomenon with women making up only about a quarter of the STEM workforce, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) said.
The ministry has launched a female talent cultivation program focusing on STEM, where 558 students were enrolled in 38 schools in the 2022-2023 school year, Chu said.
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