Aziz, Abdul Rahman Abdul; (1999) The effect of policy on academic performance and choice of employment. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This is a comparative study of academic performance and choice of employment among students studying in Malaysian universities. Students who study in Malaysian universities come from three ethnic groups; Malays, Chinese and Indians. Their presence in the university is based on ethnic quotas, which reflects the ethnic composition of the country. The Malaysian government divided its population into two groups, the indigenous that includes Malays and other Bumiputeras, and the immigrants that includes Chinese, Indians and Others. Malays and Bumiputeras were given protection and support in the form of affirmative action, commonly known as Malay special rights. The concern of this study is to analyse the effect of this policy on personal and social-psychological security / insecurity among students of different ethnic origins, with particular reference to academic performance and choice of employment. This study is based on empirical research that employed a number of data gathering techniques. The sources of data were from survey questionnaire to students, interviews of thirty Lecturers, six Students' Counsellors, Assistant Registrars (Academic), Security Officer, and Librarian. The number of questionnaires distributed was 420 to students of six universities in Malaysia. There were 400 questionnaires returned, but after close examinations only 345 were acceptable and reported in this study. Of the 345 respondents, 178 (51.6 percent) were Malays, 98 (28.4 percent) were Chinese, 49 (14.2 percent) were Indians, and 20 (5.8 percent) were Others. The respondents were studying in the final year from the Arts, Applied Arts and Social Sciences faculties. The data collected were essentially descriptive in nature. The data indicate that the existence of three main ethnic groups contributes to the development of a strong expression of ethnic sub-cultures. Thus, in the Malaysian universities, the Malay students feel more secure compared to the non-Malays. The research also showed that the academic performance of the Malays was much lower than the non-Malays. This was due to the fact that the entry of the latter into the university was based on merit. In the university, the non-Malays also show strong group cohesion, practiced strategic learning, including other personal qualities such as hardworking, self-discipline, and good rapport with the lecturers. In contrast, the Malay students tended to regard higher education as their 'right' and had lower grades on entering the university. In the university, they displayed a weak group cohesion, and greatly dependent upon the authorities to plan programs for their own academic improvement and personal advancement. In terms of choice of employment after graduation, the sample revealed that private sector and self-employment were popular choice of all categories of students.

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