Media Communication and Cultural Influence in Chinese Malaysian Students’ Career Choice in STEM

Abstract

There has been a decline of Malaysian students pursuing STEM courses over the past few decades. The democratisation of higher education since the 1980s has seen intense advertising of higher education in local media, which plays a role in shaping students’ career choices. Applying Stuart Hall’s theory of Circuit of Culture, a study deploying advertisements, and a survey with intensive interviews has been conducted to understand media and cultural influences on STEM career choice of Chinese Malaysians. Several factors, including media stereotyping nature of jobs of STEM as laboratory-based and practical activities, lack of curation of distinct images and role models in many STEM careers, lack of experiential exposure in daily social settings, fragmentised science communications, and disconnect of Chinese Malaysians from mainstream national development could have contributed to this decline. The study found that there is no distinct dislike towards STEM by Chinese Malaysians. Rather, for them, there are a wide range of careers beyond STEM, with non-STEM careers appearing to be more attractive in terms of career prospects. Alternative discourses and narratives for STEM careers with reimaging of nature of jobs for STEM careers to reconstruct perception towards STEM via the media and science communications could enhance the attractiveness of STEM careers. Additionally, a multi-disciplinary approach to higher education and promotion of specific STEM careers based on market needs could bring STEM closer to students.