Perceived multicultural counselling competence of professional counsellors in Malaysia: A national survey

A national survey was conducted to investigate the dimension and extent of multicultural counselling competency (MCC) of counsellors who are registered with the Malaysia Board of Counsellors and had practised multicultural counselling in Malaysia. A total of 508 counsellors (response rate of 34%) from various states and work settings completed the surveys using either the pen-and-paper (mailed) or electronic (online) surveys. The survey questionnaire was a 47-item Multicultural Counselling Survey-Malaysian Counsellor Edition (MCS-MCE), which comprised 2 main instruments: Demographic and MCC questionnaire. An exploratory factor analysis revealed more than the three proposed dimensions (awareness, knowledge, and skills) in the literature as constituents of MCC. There was no significant difference in perceived MCCs due to completion of multicultural courses, but significant differences were observed due to ethnicity and participation in recent multicultural training. Direct implications for education, training and development of counsellors and trainees are discussed