According to the 2015 General Household Survey, Malay workers comprise less than 10 percent of PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) in Singapore. This is a significant underrepresentation compared with all other ethnicities^[1]. Conversely, Malay workers are overrepresented in vocations that expose them to greater unemployment risks. For instance, the survey noted that proportionally, there are more Malays working in rank-and-file roles in the sales and services sectors, one of the areas most affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Similarly, while information on unemployment rates of ethnic groups is yet to be made public, data on “own account workers” indicate that the number of Malays in this category has been increasing over the years^[2]. “Own account workers” operate small self-owned businesses without employing paid workers in conducting their trade. These operators tend to be older or less educated, undertaking jobs such as taxi drivers, small-scale proprietors, insurance sales agents, real estate brokers, as well as platform workers such as private hire car drivers and food delivery riders. Unfortunately, these are workers whose livelihoods have also been the most affected by the pandemic.

Data from SkillsFuture Singapore also tell us that Malay workers are not making full use of upgrading opportunities available to them. For instance, only 8.4 percent of Malay workers have enrolled in skills upgrading programmes through the SkillsFuture Credit scheme since its launch in 2015^[3]. As for Malay women in the workforce, 50.4 percent of “married” or “ever married” Malay women are economically inactive^[4]. This is again an overrepresentation when compared with women of the same category from the other ethnic groups and represent a potential untapped labour pool. Thus, addressing the issues keeping them out of work may relieve much of our manpower needs.

What is significant to the manpower issue is that ethnic Malays, while a minority group, make up the youngest demographic cluster in the country. Based on the 2020 census, the median age of Malays was 34.5 years, compared with the national median age of 42.2 years; and 18.9 percent of Malays were below the age of 15, compared with 14.5 percent at the national level^[5]. This implies that proportionately, more young Malays will reach their working ages and enter the labour market in the coming years compared to an already falling share from the other ethnic groups. There is thus potential for young Malays to be a significant contributor to the country’s economic production in the post-pandemic period. To realise this objective, Malay youths must be made to overcome personal challenges and be guided to maximise their value to the nation by the time they enter the job market.

LITERATURE REVIEW
There is little literature on how socio-cultural influences impact career-related choices of members of an ethnic group. Nevertheless, findings from related studies at the international level can be instructive. For instance, Constant et. al. studied labour market integration of ethnic minorities in various countries and suggested improvements in employment processes that can result in greater labour market integration^[6]. They explained that aside from structural barriers such as access to education, attitudes shown by the dominant public may also act as a strong negative force preventing labour market integration of ethnic minorities. At the same time, negative factors that are experienced by a society’s minority community have also led to its own members lacking the self-confidence to apply for certain jobs.

Cumulatively, such socio-cultural factors impede a minority group’s capacity to fully participate in the labour market at the national level. Similarly, Thorat et. al. presented findings and centred their discussion on economically irrational phenomena impacting workers from minority groups in the modern Indian economy^[7]. These include findings on the cognitive processes reflecting in-group preferences. The Indian case study, while unique to the country due to the existence of the caste system, nevertheless suggests that decision makers who are both workers and business owners do possess the tendency to make economically irrational decisions. The study suggests that understanding the cognitive processes that underlie such decision-making outcomes can lead to findings that may result in more effective social, political and economic policymaking solutions.

With the understanding that such factors may also apply in Singapore society, this article will provide an overview of a key finding from a recent Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) study focusing on workers from Singapore’s Malay community, specifically the finding relating to their attitude and approach to career planning.

METHODOLOGY
The IPS research focused on the socio-cultural dynamics that serve to motivate or inhibit Singaporean Malay workers from actively seeking pathways to enhance their careers. Data was collected from in-depth, face-to-face interviews; focus group discussions; and a survey of 1,000 respondents. According to the data, respondents’ notions of and approach to career planning varied according to their social network and life experiences. Educational and economic background also played an important role in determining when and how they made their way into their respective industries.

CAREER PLANNING
Career planning is a process of systematically matching career goals and individual capabilities with opportunities for personal fulfilment^[8]. It is a deliberate process of becoming aware of self, opportunities, constraints, choices and consequences. These then become factors used to provide direction, timing and sequence of steps to attain a specific career goal^[9].

According to The Definitive Guide to Employee Development, developing a personalised career planning strategy allows jobseekers to map out their careers in employment categories that match their ability and willingness to be “trained and developed for higher positions”^[10]. A career plan features short- and long-term career goals, and the actions candidates can take to achieve them. Implementing personalised career plans can help candidates decide on educational pathways; and identify co-curricular activities, research projects and internships that make them strong candidates for the aspired vocation.

UNDERSTANDING CAREER STAGES
Based on the data analysis, the value of career planning was not pronounced early in Malay workers’ academic years or prior to their entry to work. In fact, many respondents felt left behind by their contemporaries as they needed more guiding steps in creating a career plan customised to their interests and ambitions. One respondent who works for a talent recruitment agency revealed that she was never guided into making a choice of a career for herself, because “even my parents did not really mentor me”. It was only when she started her job as a recruiter that she “saw different people, different industries, different professions, different education levels, and the different salary bands that they make”. She added, “Maybe if I studied this instead, and I had gone into this [vocation], I would have made twice more money instead.”

Such a response points to the necessity for young Malays to be aware of the need to identify career options and subsequently develop an action plan to actualise their choice. The process requires them to extrapolate career information, compare career pathways, and choose the best career journey for themselves.

While respondents felt they had been reactive to relevant job offers, they were often puzzled when rejected by companies. This tells us that these aspiring Malay workers need to understand the range of deciding factors potential employers look for. They may have to be more forward-looking and proactive than their current reactive or retroactive approach to job searches. In this respect, they should be guided to develop a customised career planning strategy. A respondent in her 40s pointed out that Malay students tend to be “limited by their social economic environment”. There should be programmes in school serving the objective of raising their aspirations and making young Malays realise that “there’s something worth working towards”.

According to the literature, an approach to career planning involves the recognition of the following 5 Different Career Stages for an Employee^[11]:

1. Exploration
2. Establishment
3. Mid-Career
4. Late Career
5. Decline

An opportunity lost at the beginning stages of one’s career will lead to a non-realisation at the later stages, as seen from respondents who had lamented their failure to tap on opportunities the moment they left school. These individuals realise that they should have sought help in navigating the job market before entering work. These include keeping abreast with the requirements of available professional development courses. Respondents in the study  revealed that they rarely attended information dissemination sessions by talent acquisition agencies or firms that were hiring. In addition, they had no knowledge about job opportunities offered by intermediaries such as Startup SG, or about internships and training grants. Moreover, the period they began seeking employment was usually after graduation, instead of during their studies. This was reflected by a respondent who would “just jump” into any available employment. Now a full-time homemaker, she realised she could have done things differently by planning ahead and talking to the right people. Unfortunately, some respondents only actively sought career guidance when forced to look for new jobs. Only then did they understand its usefulness, as the career advisor could give relevant information to fulfil the candidates’ aspirations. The respondents related that the career guidance they received involved steps to answering questions like “What job would suit me?”; “What are the educational and skills required for a specific job?”; and “What are the steps that I must take to get the job that I want?”

The ideal time for graduating students to prepare to join the workforce is between a few months to a year before graduation. They should be provided with opportunities to attend hands-on or interactive workshops on themes such as how to find and interpret job advertisements as well as to create materials that will best convey their skills and interests. Other topics could relate to anticipating and responding to questions at interviews, as well as effectively demonstrating one’s abilities to perform the work. A respondent suggested that our Malay youths should be given “more access to career guidance, career coaching” at a younger age as it “helps them open up their eyes to possibilities and not easily [settle] for the familiar options.”

When it came to working overseas or taking on outstation attachments, many respondents lamented that closing themselves to such prospects had led to poorer career progression. Some noted that they felt more assured working where their immediate and extended families would be nearby to give them support and provide them with a “safety net” when they required it. There were also other concerns such as safety and security. A 25-year-old administrative staff emphasised that he feels that Singapore is a safe country. As such, workers “would think twice about security” in a foreign land.

Equally important to Malay workers were concerns regarding access to halal food. A 28-year-old project engineer shared that Malay workers tend to “avoid relocating to places with a low number of Muslims [where it was] difficult to find halal food.”

While some of these worries may be valid, it also tells us that a proper and thoughtful evaluation of career planning strategies may have provided these individuals with a balance of perspectives to alleviate such concerns.

Lastly, respondents were asked if employers assigned as much value to experience as educational qualifications when shortlisting job candidates. Most agreed that although experience in a job would place them in good standing, employers would prioritise those who had academic qualifications. The prevailing opinion amongst these respondents was that paper qualifications remained crucial as it served as a “passport” into a company. A 26-year-old graduate who attained a place in a multinational company’s Graduate Associate Programme felt that in Singapore, opportunities for career progression “are given to those who do well in school”.

Unfortunately, convictions such as these create a defeatist mindset especially among Malay early school leavers. In fact, when such beliefs take root, a vicious cycle develops as respondents forgo career planning.

CAREER PLANNING AS VALUED FORESIGHT
A main finding from this study is to expose our Malay youths to the importance of career planning. While such initiatives exist in polytechnics and universities, they should also be introduced in secondary schools, junior colleges and the Institute of Technical Education (ITEs). An ITE student, for instance, regretted taking up a National Institute of Technical Education Certificate (NITEC) course and switching to another course for Higher NITEC, based on advice from friends and family. Had she consulted a more informed source, she would have made a more efficient choice in her education pathway.

Hence, students in these institutions should learn about personalised career planning frameworks. Such a curriculum should include personality profiling to enable students to gain a proper under- standing of their strengths, interests and employment potential. With such knowledge made available to them, they will hopefully be able to make better career choices. ⬛

¹ Department of Statistics Singapore. General Household Survey 2015: Table 21 Resident Population Aged 15 Years and Over by Highest Qualification Attained, Marital Status, Sex and Ethnic Group. 2015. Available at: https://www.singstat.gov.sg/-/media/files/publications/ghs/ghs2015/ghs2015.pdf
² Aboo Kassim, A. S. Advancing entrepreneurship: The role of Malay/Muslim institutions. Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs (RIMA). 2016, June 30. Available at: https://rima.sg/advancing-entrepreneurship-the-role-of-malaymuslim-institutions/
³ Samsudin, N. Report on the Closed-Door Discussion on the Use of SkillsFuture and Employability of the Malay-Muslim Community. Institute of Policy Studies, NUS. 2018.
⁴ Aboo Kassim, A. S. Advancing entrepreneurship: The role of Malay/Muslim institutions. Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs (RIMA). 2016, June 30. Available at: https://rima.sg/advancing-entrepreneurship-the-role-of-malaymuslim-institutions/
⁵ Singstat. Population Trends 2020. 2020. Available at: https://www.singstat.gov.sg/-/media/files/publications/population/population2020.pdf
⁶ Constant, A. F., Kahanec, M., and Zimmermann, K. F. Attitudes towards immigrants, other integration barriers, and their veracity. International Journal of Manpower, 30(1), 2009. pp. 5-14
⁷ Thorat, S., Attewell, P., and Rizvi, F. F. Urban Labour Market Discrimination. Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi. 2009
⁸ Schermerhorn, J.R., Osborn, R., and Hunt, J.G. Organizational Behavior. Phoenix: University of Phoenix. 2002
⁹ McMahon, M., and Patton, W. Career Development from a Systems Perspective: The Systems Theory Framework. In: Metcalf, G.S., Kijima, K., and Deguchi, H. (eds) Handbook of Systems Sciences. Springer, Singapore. 2021
¹⁰ Bridge. The Definitive Guide to Employee Development. 2022. Available at: https://www.getbridge.com/resources/definitive-guide-employee-development/
¹¹Chand, S. 5 Different Career Stages for an Employee. 2023. Available at: https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/business-management/5-different-career-stages-for-an-employee/2500

Dr Shamsuri Juhari is Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) at the National University of Singapore. He specialises in research focusing on Singapore’s Malay-Muslim community.