Ethnic Differences in the Transition to Higher Education in Malaysia: The Effects of Colonialism and of Subsequent Preferential Policies

Hui P. Liew, Pennsylvania State University
Victor Agadjanian, Arizona State University

We use the second wave of the Malaysian Family Life Survey conducted in 1988-89 to examine the effects of the New Economic Policy (NEP) instituted by the Malaysian government in 1971 to promote educational opportunities of hitherto disadvantaged ethnic Malays. We employ logistic regression to compare the likelihood of the transition to higher education, given the completion of secondary school, across generational cohorts (pre-NEP and post-NEP generations) and across the three ethnic groups - Malays, Chinese, and Indians. The results show an increase in the likelihood of making the transition in each subsequent cohort for all the three ethnic groups. However, Malays who reached college age after 1971 experienced a much larger increase in the odds of continuing beyond secondary education relative both to their Chinese and Indian counterparts and to the pre-NEP cohorts of Malays. We discuss these and other findings and conclude with an evaluation of the NEP's impact on Malaysian society.