257formed among these returnees to lay the groundwork for the establishment of such
an organization.
Subsequently, a pro tem committee was elected with a mandate to establish a
Malaysian association for research and higher education policy development tenta-
tively named the Malaysian Society for Higher Education Policy and Research
Development (MySHEPaRD). This initial work culminated in the establishment of
a Malaysian Society for Research and Higher Education Policy Development or, in
Malay, Pertubuhan Pembangunan Penyelidikan dan Dasar Pendidikan Tinggi
Malaysia (PenDaPaT) in early 2015 (see http://www.pendapat-malaysia.org/)..)
PenDaPaT comprises a group of people who share a concern or a passion for mat-
ters relating to higher education and learn how to comprehend fast-changing devel-
opments in Malaysian higher education as they interact regularly. Arguably, in the
case of Malaysia, by participating in PenDaPaT, we can then define and determine
the competencies of members to contribute to higher education as a field of study/
research for national development. In short, PenDaPaT is expected to play a signifi-
cant role in the consolidation of the field and in the reform of Malaysian higher
education.
HE as a Discipline: Issues and Implications
After unprecedented developments in the late 2000s, Malaysian higher education
research has entered the age of emergence. In spite of the somewhat positive devel-
opment, there are a plethora of issues and challenges facing Malaysian higher edu-
cation as a field of study as highlighted before. We have further identified and
summarized those issues into four main areas with regard to the study of higher
education in Malaysia.
Short-Term Projects, Funding and Infrastructure
Firstly, many research projects have been short-term, funded un-programmatic proj-
ects dependent heavily on government-funding agencies. In most cases, there is a
mismatch of timescale between the funder and the researchers. Understandably, the
funders face time and political pressure as well as unexpected shift in priorities.
Nevertheless, good scientific research requires ample time to collect and present
evidence. Compounding this problem, higher education research, which is mostly
funded by the MoHE, is all too often driven by political motives or the funder’s
agenda. Another sign of the overt influence of politics is the fact that higher educa-
tion studies have been used to justify the ideas of political leaders and predeter-
mined government policies. Thus, between the latest transformation initiative of
government (MEB-HE (2015-2025)), and the associated sudden interest in specific
issues such as employability and funding, research often becomes little more than
14 Higher Education as a Field of Study in Malaysia: Towards an Epistemic...