Page 40 - ASEAN-EU Dialogue 2018: Regional and Inter-Regional Economic Cooperation: Identifying Priorities for ASEAN and the EU

pursuing STEM to non-STEM disciplines in upper secondary schools and universities in order
to produce more STEM workers. Nonetheless, after one and a half decades, the outcome is far
behind the target. This is clearly reflected in the number of graduates at the first-degree level
amongst Malaysia’s tertiary education programmes during the period of 2010-2015 as shown
in Table 7.1. The total number of STEM graduates produced is relatively low in comparison to
non-STEM graduates, at the average ratio of 35:65. This is completely opposite to the
determined target of 60:40 and this ratio is consistent during the 6-years period of 2010-2015.
The average percentage of STEM PhD graduates at 56% is the only group of graduates coming
close to the targeted 60% of STEM graduates. The group of graduates with a Master’s degree
is the group with the lowest percentage of STEM graduates at the average of 19%.

Table 7.1: Statistics on Graduation of Malaysia’s Tertiary Education Programmes, 2010-2015

Year Average
Degree Field
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 (2010-15)
STEM (%) 42 42 44 42 42 40 42

First Non-STEM (%) 58 58 56 58 58 60 58
SUM 1 (No.) 66,445 66,372 66,421 68,025 71,273 68,606 67,857
STEM (%) 17 16 20 20 20 19 19
Master's Non-STEM (%) 83 84 80 80 80 81 81
SUM 2 (No.) 27,685 29,552 31,457 34,742 34,677 34,582 32,116
STEM (%) 50 54 56 59 57 59 56
PhD Non-STEM (%) 50 46 44 41 43 41 44
SUM 3 (No.) 1,134 1,527 2,064 2,333 2,790 3,377 2,204
STEM (%) 35 35 37 35 36 34 35

Overall Non-STEM (%) 65 65 63 65 64 66 65
Total (No.) 95,264 97,451 99,942 105,100 108,740 106,565 102,177
Source: Data extracted from Malaysian Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators Report 2016

R&D Investments and Funding Programmes
The gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) measures both current (such as labour and operating
costs) and capital expenditures (such as land, buildings and other structures, vehicles, plants,
software, machinery and equipment) related to R&D activities. It indicates the R&D intensity
of a country – both in the public and private sectors. Figure 7.1 exhibits that there is a two-fold
growth in Malaysia’s R&D intensity (as represented by the percentage of GERD over gross
domestic product (GDP)) during the period of 2004-2014, from 0.63 in 2004 to 1.26 in 2014.
The total amount allocated has increased nearly five-fold from about RM2.84 billion in 2004
to RM13.97 billion in 2014. Most of the investments are for current expenditure rather than
capital investment. However, as reported in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2016,
the R&D intensity of Malaysia is considered lacking behind when compared to other countries
in the region such as the Republic of Korea (4.29), Japan (3.59), Taiwan (3.00) and Singapore
(2.20).

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