Sibship size and educational attainment in peninsular Malaysia: do policies matter?
Pong, S.L.
Sociological Perspectives Sp Official Publication of the Pacific Sociological Association 40(2): 227-242
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0731-1214 PMID: 12293107 DOI: 10.2307/1389523Document Number: 531237
This study examines the effects of sibship size on secondary school attainment in Malaysia. Data were obtained from the 1989 Malaysian Second Family Life Survey among a sample of individuals aged 19-38 years in 1989 who were born during 1938-69. The sample included 1749 Malays, 1071 Chinese, and 523 Indians. Subsamples divided persons into those born during the period 1950-59 and those born during 1960-69. 98% of the sample had a primary education. Almost 66% had attained a secondary school education: 23% of Malays, 34% of Chinese, and 30% of Indians. 97% had at least one sibling. The percentage of non-Malays with a secondary school education (SSE) decreased with an increase in sibship size. Sibship size was unrelated to SSE among Malays. It is pointed out that the preferential policies were probably a stronger impetus for secondary attainment among Malays than sibship size. Finer analysis by cohort revealed that only in the cohort born during 1950-59 did sibship size have no significant effect on SSE. Sibship size had a significantly negative impact among children born during 1960-69 and the impact was greater for Malays than non-Malays. The magnitude of the effect for Malays was twice as large in the 1960-69 cohort as in the 1950-59 cohort, while the magnitude of the impact of sibship size for non-Malays was the same for both birth cohorts. Average sibship size for non-Malays declined sharply over time, while it remained stable for Malays. Logistic analysis revealed few differences between ethnic groups in the predicted probabilities for the 1950-59 cohort when individual and family factors were accounted for. Findings suggest that non-Malays' adjustment by decreasing their fertility or changing family resource allocations could not entirely compensate for increases in the cost of education or reductions in the return to education. The benefit was the closing of the gap between Malays and non-Malays with regard to children's likelihood of SSE.