During a time of economic transformation, the issue of youth unemployment looms large in the consciousness of every Malaysian. As of December 2023, youths accounted for 432,100 out of 567,800 jobless Malaysians, with the 15–30-year-old age group making up a whopping 76 percent of unemployed individuals. While this challenge is not Malaysia’s alone, the ASEAN Research Center (ARC) at the Asia School of Business (ASB), endowed by Maybank, is taking up the task of supporting young Malaysians navigating the job market today. More importantly, they’re trying to figure out why.
ARC is home to the Rapid Youth Success Entrepreneurship/Employability (RYSE) Program, a research and social outreach project supported by Citi Foundation, dedicated to empowering Malaysian youth through entrepreneurship and employability programs. In line with ASB’s mission to contribute to a better future and the advancement of the emerging world, ARC’s RYSE Program exposes Malaysian youths to concepts of leadership, soft skills, business, and how they can improve their employability in the competitive job market of today. Their work includes Student Entrepreneurship Boot Camps for public schools in Sabah, the RYSE To Work Employability Program, Tiny Titans Micro-Business Case Studies, and online financial literacy webinars.
ASB’s collaborative and participatory approach to research can be seen via the research team’s active engagement with RYSE program participants to explore important questions around financial inclusion, decision-making in business, and the psychology of entrepreneurship. RYSE programs are used to collect valuable data about youth attitudes towards entrepreneurship in real time, ensuring the research is not only data-driven but also reflective of the practical challenges faced by young Malaysians.
ARC’s research is guided by the expertise of Dr. Melati Nungsari, Associate Professor of Economics and Deputy Dean of Research. “As a microeconomist, it was really important for me to understand how our decisions are affected by the economic structures we are surrounded by,” says Dr. Melati. “Are youths unemployed because of problems in their attitude, or are there societal barriers that are preventing them from accessing their full potential?” These are questions that ARC’s researchers have been working on since RYSE was founded by Dr. Melati in 2018.
With the data collected from RYSE programs, ARC’s researchers are currently studying factors that affect youth perceptions of entrepreneurial risk, how gender may affect the ability of youths to participate in entrepreneurship, and the effectiveness of the RYSE employability program. These results will go on to inform the various intervention strategies, policy recommendations, and awareness campaigns held by stakeholders who are invested in resolving the issue of youth unemployment in Malaysia.
Through RYSE, ARC has successfully built upon ASB and MIT’s strengths in entrepreneurship and innovation, combining theoretical research with practical, impactful programs to equip underprivileged and under-resourced youths with the ambitious and entrepreneurial mindset they need to succeed.
ASB invites corporations and organizations to collaborate across its various research arms, contributing to research that addresses Southeast Asia’s pressing challenges. For more information on how to collaborate with RYSE and ARC, or ASB’s other research centers, namely the Center for Technology, Strategy & Sustainability (CTSS), Center for Sustainable Small-owners (CSS), and Central Banking Research Center (CBRC), please contact the ASB Research Office or visit https://asb.edu.my/research-office/.
* The RYSE Program by the ASEAN Research Center (ARC) has been made possible through the support of Citi Foundation and Maybank.