Abstract

BRAND, Christiaan P. et al. Psychometric properties of the UWES-S for South African university students. SA j. ind. Psychol. [online]. 2025, vol.51, n.1, pp.1-11. ISSN 2071-0763.  https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v51i0.2271.

ORIENTATION: Student engagement is crucial for students' success in higher education. Therefore, this study seeks to validate the psychometric properties of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student (UWES-S) version in a South African context RESEARCH PURPOSE: The study evaluated the psychometric properties of the UWES-S, focusing on factorial validity, measurement invariance, item bias and internal consistency in a sample of university students across multiple campuses of a South African tertiary institution MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY: International best practices in psychometric assessment advocate for validated assessments. This study evaluates the psychometric properties of the UWES-S within the South African context RESEARCH APPROACH/DESIGN AND METHOD: This quantitative cross-sectional study assessed the UWES-S's psychometric properties, including factorial validity, measurement invariance, item bias and internal consistency in a sample of 2434 students from three campuses of a South African university MAIN FINDINGS: Results supported the three-factor structure of the UWES-S across language and campus groups. Factor loadings identified one problematic item with a negative loading, which was omitted. Measurement invariance was established, and while item bias was detected, the effect size was negligible. The UWES-S was also deemed reliable with high internal consistency PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: The study provided preliminary evidence for the reliable, valid and unbiased application of the UWES-S on university students in South Africa CONTRIBUTION/VALUE-ADD: This study supports the valid, reliable and unbiased application of the UWES-S within South Africa's higher education context

Keywords : student engagement; UWES-S; vigour; dedication; absorption; factorial validity; factorial invariance; item bias; reliability.

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