CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Azerin, Nadyaa Afiqah Binti |
|---|---|
| Title | Public Opinions on Malaysia's Affirmative Action: Discerning the Attitudes of Malay Students Towards the Selective Admission Policies in Malaysia's Public Universities |
| Summary | Malaysia remains one of the few countries that has a permanent affirmative action policy in place, which favours its majority rather than its minorities. The Malays, which constitutes more than 60% of Malaysia’s population enjoy a set of special rights or privileges in politics, social and economic sector. These policies were a result of interracial socio-economic disparity between the Malays and the non-Malays, which could be traced back to its colonial past. The Malays therefore enjoy a set of privileges such as special subsidies in buying houses, cars, as well as being given priority when it comes to scholarships. Despite the controversial nature of these affirmative action policies, the public are often reluctant to openly speak on this matter due to the legal repercussion that could befall those who. However, when the issue of ratifying the International Convention on the Elimination of All Racial Discrimination (ICERD) was floated by the government in 2018, the subject of Malaysia’s affirmative action policy is now being openly discussed among members of the public. Based on this newfound voice, this research aims to analyse the attitudes of Malay students towards these affirmative action policies, with particular focus on the admission policy in Malaysia’s public universities. Using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, the data on students’ attitudes are collected and analysed using the Intergroup Contact Theory, the Social Dominance Theory and the Intergroup Threat theory as part of the methodology. From the analyses of the data, it was found that the students are largely in support of the affirmative action policy, with varying degrees of support depending on their educational and socioeconomic background. |
| Supervisor | Váradi, Luca |
| Department | Nationalism Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/azerin_nadyaa.pdf |
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