Impact Of Mentoring Amongst Indigenous Young Adults In Sabah, Malaysia

Most indigenous communities in Malaysia live in poverty and this has limited their access to education and decent employment. This study examines how mentoring relationships may aid indigenous young adults (19-24 years old) in Sabah, Malaysia in overcoming socio-economic barriers and securing stable employment. To explore this, several data sources were used that derived from interviews with mentors, a mixed method online survey with the mentees followed by telephone interviews with selected mentees from the responses. Findings indicate that the family’s influence, language proficiency of the young adult, development of soft skills and financial literacy were factors that influence an indigenous young adult’s employability, job security and stability. The findings also demonstrate that mentoring provides benefits such as increased positive character values, career advancement opportunities, preparedness of work, skills development and employment opportunities. Mentoring, if paired with an understanding of indigenous culture, may be an effective intervention tool especially in the development of Sabah’s indigenous young adults towards human capital growth in Malaysia.