KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 — A survey found that members of Generation-Z (Gen-Zs) were more likely to feel and report that they had experienced ethnicity-related discrimination compared to their older peers.
According to non-profit organisation (NGO) Architects of Diversity’s (AOD)'s survey titled 'State of Discrimination Survey 2023', 43 per cent of respondents aged between 18 to 24 said they had experienced discrimination based on ethnicity, skin colour, ethnic origin or way of dressing, culture, traditions, and native language or accent.
In comparison, 34 per cent of those aged 25 to 39, 23 per cent of respondents aged 40 to 59 and 2 per cent of those 60 years and above said they felt similarly.
At the same time, most respondents said they experienced discrimination over social media (32 per cent), when applying for jobs (30 per cent) and at work (29 per cent).
Nearly a fifth (19 per cent) said they did not experience any discrimination while another 7 per cent said they did not know if they had faced any discrimination.
AOD said that the survey aims to provide a baseline study on the quantitative nature of discrimination in Malaysia relating to various identities, including religion and race.
The survey received 3,238 responses from Malaysian adults aged 18 and above.
Consistency based on the Population and Housing Census of Malaysia 2020 was ensured in terms of race, age, gender and state.
In May, another survey found that 70 per cent of Gen-Zs and 61 per cent of millennials in Malaysia have experienced harassment or microaggressions at work in the past year.
The Deloitte Global 2023 Gen Z and Millennial Survey said that the top harassment behaviours reported in the survey were: offensive or suggestive emails or other communications (23 per cent for Malaysian Gen-Zs and 18 per cent for Malaysian millennials), repeated disparaging or belittling comments about the respondent’s gender (21 per cent for Malaysian Gen-Zs and 23 per cent for Malaysian millennials), and physical contact at work (20 per cent for Malaysian Gen-Zs and 26 per cent for Malaysian millennials).
