The impact of institutional support and student engagement on educational outcomes of Orang Asli students at public universities

The barriers that indigenous students face in pursuing higher education are substantial and far-reaching. This study seeks to understand the impact of institutional support on engagement of Orang Asli students and its effects on their learning outcomes and academic achievement. Quantitative data were collected from 160 Orang Asli students from three tribal groups through an online survey. Indigenous students from 11 selected public universities in Malaysia have responded to the survey, with a response rate of 89%. The partial least squares (PLS) approach was used to analyse the data. Results of the structural model showed that despite the absence of dedicated indigenous support centres at public universities in Malaysia, institutional support still have significant impact on engagement of Orang Asli students, which in turn affects their learning outcomes and academic achievement positively. The implications of the research findings and recommendations for future research are discussed in this paper.