Challenges Faced by Pre-university Students in Excelling STREAM Based Disciplines for a Better Future

Malaysia has numerous challenges in the twenty-first century due to globalisation and advancements in communications technology. Malaysia places a high importance on STREAM based education in order to grow the country's workforce and ultimately meet the difficulties and expectations of a STREAM-driven economy. As a result, education is critical in developing capable and competitive pre-university students to meet the challenges of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution. Therefore, pre-university students must excel in STREAM based subjects in their Malaysian Higher School Certificate, also known as Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM). Thus, pre-university students embark on one of the most exciting yet challenging paths to thrive in STREAM subjects such as science, technology, religiosity, engineering, artistry and mathematics. As such, the goal of this research is to uncover the problems encountered by these pre-university students in excelling in STREAM related disciplines in order to have a better future. A mix-method study was carried out to collect data from 46 semester 2, 2023 cohort pre-university respondents utilising a 30-item 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. Data were triangulated through interviews with six selected respondents. Document analysis was also performed on the pre-university students' Malaysian Certificate of Education (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) results, Semester 1 2023 Malaysian Certificate of Higher Education results and the Students' Database Application System. The quantitative data was analysed in percentile and the qualitative data was analysed using thematic coding and descriptive analysis. This study revealed that the primary obstacles experienced by pre-university students in excelling in STREAM related disciplines are difficulty in scoring, financial constraints, lack of enthusiasm in the subjects offered in school, lack of support and the requirement to work part-time. The findings of this study had important implications for policymakers, school teachers, school counsellors and syllabus designers in considering the appropriate approach to attract more pre-university students to excel in STREAM based subjects in future