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Past research on ethnocultural minority students indicates that persistent inequities require greater attention to the multiple learning supports needed to enhance school success. The present study was designed to extend research in this area by exploring school climate and emotional engagement among minority ethnocultural Chinese students in Malaysian secondary schools. We employed quantitative surveys with 724 students (Mage = 16.1 years; 47.9% female), followed by qualitative interviews with a subset of 25 students (Mage = 16.1 years; 52% female). Path analysis indicated that feelings of safety, socio-emotional support from teachers and peers, and student voice were predictors of emotional engagement for Chinese students, which further predicted cognitive engagement, academic performance, and school behavior. Thematic analysis further revealed that language and communication barriers and bullying negatively impacted students’ sense of safety and engagement. Caring, respectful relationships with teachers led to students having opportunities to direct their own learning and make decisions on schoolwide activities, promoting students’ feelings of engagement. Support from peers increased students’ emotional engagement by reducing school-related stressors. The findings suggest that a mutually respectful, caring school climate and opportunities for student voice can enhance critical school experiences for ethnocultural minority high school students.

Despite existing research on the contribution of social context and religiosity to adolescent behavioral outcomes, few studies have attempted to explore this topic among Muslim adolescents in non-Western settings, looking at both positive and negative outcomes. In response to this gap, the current study explored the effects of three dimensions of developmental assets (positive parenting, community support, and religiosity) on risk, prosocial, and thriving behaviors among Muslim adolescents (N = 895) from Malaysia. Hierarchical regression results revealed positive parenting as the greatest protective factor against risk behavior, religiosity as the most significant promotive factor of prosocial behaviors, and community support as the greatest contributor to adolescent thriving. In the final model, unique effects varied by outcome. The findings support the importance and universality of multiple levels of developmental assets for youth development, and highlight the need to better understand their interaction in non-Western cultural contexts.

Despite the concerns about professionalism among youth work practitioners in Malaysia, valid and reliable instruments to measure the construct are lacking. This article reviews the psychometric development and initial exploration of a professionalism measure applicable for use with direct-service youth work practitioners. Results were based on a sampling of 813 government and non-government youth work practitioners throughout Malaysia. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 6-factor solution that was used as the basis for the subscales of the instrument. Comparison of means tests indicated higher mean scores according to academic qualification, age, income, gender, marital status and certification and years of involvement in youth work. Limitations and recommendations for further development of the professionalism scale are discussed.

Despite the theoretical justification for the importance of self-awareness as a key input to leadership development, the construct, as understood according to awareness of one’s traits and tasks, has received little attention in the literature related to undergraduate leadership development. This article sets out to address this gap by investigating Trait and Task Self-awareness (SA) among more than 1700 undergraduate students from Malaysian institutions of higher learning. Analysis focused on comparing Trait and Task SA according to seven demographic variables. Results indicated that older, male students with higher CGPAs from the social sciences scored higher on both types of self-awareness than their counterparts. The findings begin to shed light on Malaysian undergraduates’ status in terms of the development of self-awareness in the context of leadership, and how it can be further enhanced.