背景介绍：
国立成功大学，中国台湾省知名学府，坐拥丰富历史遗迹，却面临历史系招生遇冷的困境，映射出东亚高等教育领域的新挑战。随着适龄学生减少，STEM专业成为热门，人文社科遭遇冷落。政府与企业纷纷加码STEM投资，而如何平衡学科发展，吸引多元生源，成为各国高等教育亟待破解的难题。新加坡等国通过政策创新，促进高等教育普及与学科均衡发展，提供了可借鉴的经验。
The strange
death of liberal arts
文科消亡之怪相
Why many young Asians are no longer studying history
为什么许多亚洲年轻人不愿学习历史
With cannons on campus, its own Qing-dynasty wall and the first Dutch fort in Taiwan nearby, National Cheng Kung University seems an appealing place for a budding historian.
国立成功大学，这座承载着深厚历史底蕴的学府，不仅坐拥校内古朴的炮台与清代城墙遗迹，紧邻之处更是矗立着台湾省首座荷兰堡垒，对于初涉历史研究领域的学子而言，无疑是探索过往、启迪智慧的理想之地。
However, after a first round of applications, no students had accepted places in the history department for next year. It is a shock for the university, ranked third in Taiwan. But it is part of a broader trend.
然而，令人讶异的是，在最新一轮的招生申请尘埃落定后，竟未有一人选择入读历史系。对于这所在台湾省排名第三的大学而言，这着实令人震惊。此现象，实则是更广泛教育趋势中的一抹缩影。
In much of East Asia, universities face a demographic crisis. In Japan the population of 18-year-olds has been declining since the 1990s. In Taiwan the undergraduate population has dipped by more than a quarter in the past decade. Experts in South Korea talk of an “enrolment cliff”, as 3.6m students in 2010 fell to 3m last year.
东亚多国正经历着前所未有的高等教育人口挑战。日本自90年代起，便目睹了18岁人口数量的持续下滑；中国台湾省，则在过去的十年间，本科生人数锐减超过四分之一。韩国的教育界则形象地称之为“入学悬崖”， 因为学生总数已从2010年的360万高峰滑落至去年的300万关口。
This has hit humanities and social-sciences departments hard. Faced with a more uncertain economic environment than their parents, students want to study subjects that will lead to well-paid jobs. These are mostly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
在这场变革中，人文社科类专业首当其冲，遭受了前所未有的冲击。面对比前辈们更加复杂多变的经济环境，学生们普遍倾向于选择那些能够直接通往高薪职业的专业路径，其中尤以科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域为甚。
Private universities, which educate most students in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, often depend on tuition fees, and therefore most need to adapt to students’ wishes to stay afloat. In South Korea 18 private universities have closed for good since 2000.
在日本、韩国和中国台湾省，尤其是私立大学，作为教育市场的主体，往往更加依赖学费收入维持运营，因此不得不紧跟学生偏好，调整专业设置以求生存。韩国便是例证，自21世纪初以来，已有18所私立大学因生源不足而黯然退场。
Governments are also keen on STEM subjects. In Taiwan new academies at 12 universities train young people to work in the semiconductor sector and other high-tech fields. In the past two years 126 institutions in Japan have applied for a government subsidy to focus on digital and green technologies.
政府层面亦不例外，纷纷将目光投向 STEM 领域，视为推动国家创新发展的关键力量。中国台湾省，正以12所大学的新学院为阵地，着力培养半导体及高科技行业的未来之星；而日本，则在过去两年内见证了126所教育机构竞相申请政府资助，聚焦于数字技术与绿色科技的创新发展。
What could be done? Universities have managed to increase foreign student numbers, but not enough to offset demographic decline. But efforts to increase the rate of university-going among locals could still bear fruit. In Japan the growth in female students has meant that the university population increased slightly from 2012 to 2022.
面对如此挑战，如何寻求破局之道？虽然国际学生扩招成为缓解本土生源不足的策略之一，但其影响力尚不足以完全抵消人口下降趋势。相比之下，提升本地居民高等教育普及率的努力则展现出更为乐观的前景。在日本，女性学生群体的壮大即为明证，其增长直接推动了大学总人数的温和回升，自2012年至2022年间实现了小幅增长。
In Singapore the number of students continues to rise, even as the traditional university-age population is falling, through policies which encourage older student cohorts to enroll.
新加坡的经验同样值得借鉴，尽管面对传统意义上的大学适龄人口减少，该国却通过政策引导，鼓励更广泛年龄段的学生群体接受高等教育，实现了学生总数的稳步增长。
Singapore’s government, while fond of STEM subjects, also stresses the importance of social sciences and the humanities for policymaking. The number of students in those faculties is growing.
新加坡政府虽在 STEM 领域倾注大量资源，却也不忘社会科学与人文科学对于政策制定的重要性，这些专业的学生数量亦在稳步增长之中。
