Influence of ethnic-related diversity experiences on intercultural sensitivity of students at a public university in Malaysia

In this study, the authors examine the influence of ethnic-related diversity experiences on intercultural sensitivity among Malaysian students at a multiethnic, multicultural and multilingual Malaysian public university. Results reveal a significant differential level of ethnic-related diversity experiences (but not at the level of intercultural sensitivity) across ethnic groups studied. In comparison, the minority ethnic group of Indian students had a significantly higher level of ethnic-related diversity experiences than the Chinese and Malay students. The hypothesized significant main effect of level of ethnic-related diversity experiences on the level of intercultural sensitivity among the students is supported. The high-level ethnic-diversity experiences group significantly shows a higher level of intercultural sensitivity than the moderate and low-level groups, and the moderate level group is significantly higher than the low-level group. However, no significant interaction effect of ethnicity and ethnic-related diversity experiences on intercultural sensitivity is found. The implications of these findings are discussed further in the paper.