Paper Title
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL INTERACTION, RACIAL INTEGRATION AND DEMOCRATIC OUTCOMES AMONG STUDENTS IN MALAYSIAN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Abstract
Abstract - The current study is an attempt to determine multi-ethnic students in Malaysian higher education institutions (HEIs) in the context of the relationship between social interaction, racial integration, and democratic outcomes. Malaysians are aware that they live with a variety of ethnic groups, and therefore all citizens, regardless of their background, need to unite in order for the country's progress to be achieved without hindrance. However, the school system in Malaysia that has divided the students since the primary school level has caused students of different ethnic backgrounds to be a part of each other, leading to very limited interactions among them and adding questions to the democratic outcomes of the students as well.To obtain the best results for this study, close-ended quantitative methods supported by a few open-ended questions were used. By using simple random sampling, 450 survey questionnaires were distributed to respondents around KlangValley, which involved six HEIs. The survey questionnaires were adopted from past studies. Then, through descriptive and inferential statistics, the data obtained were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23. Pearson product-coefficient correlation (r) was employed to examine the relationship between variables, while structural equation modelling (SEM) was utilised to examine the effect of the mediator variable (social interactions). Prior to the utilization of the structural model, the measurement model confirmed the appropriateness of the data that fit the model. The descriptive analysis revealed that the level of all variables examined in this study were high [racial integration (mean=4.07, SD=0.60); democratic outcomes (mean=4.09, SD=0.57); social interaction (mean=3.75, SD=0.71)]. Moreover, the results of the regression weights for each path in the study framework also showed a significant relationship for every path. The results concluded that racial integration and social interaction were the predictors of democratic outcomes.Ultimately, the result of this study showed that social interactions partially mediate the relationship between racial integration and democratic outcomes among multi-ethnic students at Malaysian HEIs. From there, research questions were tested through hypotheses H1, H2, H3, and H4, and the results showed the hypotheses were supported. In light of that evidence, it is clear that the findings have implications for public policy makers with regard to social interaction, racial integration, and democratic outcomes, because the results showed that the level of these three aspects is at a satisfactory level. Thus, the results of this study should be used as the guidelines in improving the curricula for all schools and HEIs. So that they can have a major impact on improving democratic outcomes and racial integration among youth of different ethnic groups in Malaysia.