Differences in Counselors’ Career Outputs in View of Licensure Status in Malaysia

Abstract

Abstract-Malaysia is a rapidly developing country. In the last decade, the availability of counseling services has been getting progressive attention and there arises the question of who govern the standard and practice of the counseling service providers. In Malaysia, school counselors are encouraged to register under the Malaysia Board of Counselor which is subjected to the Counselors Act 1998 or Act 580 of the Laws of Malaysia. This paper aimed to study and examine the licensure status of Malaysia school counselors and its' relation with their career outputs. Three hundred and forty five secondary school counselors in Malaysia responded via paper and online survey. The result shows counselors who are registered with the Malaysia Board of Counselor demonstrated higher levels of job satisfaction, career success, professional commitment and self-perceived employability. The reasons of not registered were also explored and discussed in this paper. The recommendation and suggestions for future policy development and governance were discussed.

An investigation of emotional intelligence and counselling self-efficacy among counsellors-in-training

“…Given the complexity of the social problems and the need for trained and qualified personnel to address these problems, the counsellors act 1998 was enacted in 1998. The act provides for the registration and practices of counsellors in Malaysia and the establishment of the board of counsellors to ensure professionalism and high standards among counsellors [20]. With the implementation, it is mandatory for all counsellors to be registered with the board under the counselor act 1998 (580).…”