Welfare development in Taiwan has been accompanied by a significant growth of postgraduate programs after the 1990s. Yet, few previous papers have explored the changing academic studies in relation to policy development. Degree theses as an indicator of academic output should show the overall picture of shifts in social policy studies. We adopt secondary data analysis, based on the Dissertation and Thesis Abstract Database, which contains 2,089 degree theses from all of the 20 social work and social policy institutes in Taiwan. A three-dimensional framework is constructed to highlight important changes of theses in 1990–2008 and the implications to welfare development.

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