Racial Inequality in Educational Outcomes (Singapore)

Meritocracy has become an integral aspect of the Singaporean identity and the Singaporean dream, however, I believe that it causes policy-makers and Singaporeans alike to play down racial inequalities in educational outcomes in Singapore.

I do not attempt to explain the causes of such inequality as they are equally complex and contentious. My goal is to demonstrate that Malays, relative to other ethnic groups in Singapore, are badly under-represented in higher (tertiary education) though improvements have been made.

I will also show that inequalities in educational outcomes are exacerbated by the fact that Malay university students are severly under-represented in higher paying fields such as Engineering and Business/Management while a significant proportion of them take up degrees in lower paying fields such as Arts and Social Sciences. This is an important topic as it is the gateway to understanding the intersection between race and growing income inequality in Singapore

Interestingly, it is easy to find datasets for measurements (such as divorce rates, etc) that divide by race but it is nearly impossible to do so for educational outcomes and income. Hence, the datasets used in this Viz are relatively old (2005 & 2010).

Highest Education Qualification by Ethnicity

Trends

Disturbing Trends:  Race clearly plays a part in determining if a Singaporean’s educational path. If one is Malay, one will find it much more difficult to complete one’s tertiary education, whether it is at a Polytechnic or a University.

In 2005, only 8.6% of all eligible Malays completed their tertiary education as their highest education qualification as opposed to 28.4% of Singaporeans from ‘All Races’ that completed their tertiary education. 2010 saw a significant increase in Malays having a tertiary education but relative to all races, Malays’ highest education qualification is still horribly low.

An overwhelming 64% did not attain their Secondary school education with some failing to complete secondary schools and the vast majority never even attempted.

Positive Trends: However, more encouraging is the fact that many more Malays are continuing their education past Primary schools and completing their secondary education. The percentage of Malays who did not acquire at least a Secondary school education fell from 64% to just 24.1% in 5 years.

Malays in Arts/Social Sciences vs Engineering & Management/Accountancy

Racial inequality in terms of educational outcomes is made worse by the fact that Malays who manage to make it to university tend to study in subjects that have a lower average income straight out of university. For example, 33% of Malays in universities graduate with a degree in Arts/Social Sciences which also happen to have the lowest average fresh graduate pay. This is compared to only 16% for ‘All Races’ who study Arts & Social Sciences. Malays are also badly underrepresented relative to ‘All Races’ in higher paying fields such as Engineering and Business/Management.

Data Sources:

• Data on average salary of fresh graduates by degree in 2010 from salary.sg

• Data on Education Qualification by Ethnicity and Types of Degrees by Ethnicity from AMP Singapore