[1][2] She attended Taipei Municipal Da-An Vocational High School [zh], then enrolled at the National Huwei Institute of Technology, within the department of aeronautical engineering.

Kao subsequently completed a master's degree in electrical engineering at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology.

[1] Prior to her political career, Kao worked at the Industrial Technology Research Institute.

[5] Following the mass resignation of acting chair Chiu Hsien-chih and all members of the New Power Party's executive council on 5 August 2020,[4] Kao was elected to the body with the second highest vote share, trailing only Claire Wang, and assumed the party leadership with the council's support on 29 August 2020.

She felt pressured to begin planning for the 2022 elections, but believed that the task was better left to her successor.