Student engagement in Indian context: UWES-S validation and relationship with burnout and life satisfaction

Abstract

The student version of Utrecht work engagement scale (UWES-S) is increasingly being employed to assess student engagement without sufficient evidence for its validity, reliability and generalisability. This research seeks to investigate the psychometric properties of UWES-S in the Indian context. Two studies are reported. Study 1 (N = 207) investigates the 14-item UWES-S for factorial and convergent validity, and internal consistency. Study 2 (N = 279) revalidates findings from study 1 and examines relationships with burnout and life satisfaction. The three-factor morphology of UWES-S stands validated across both the studies. Evidence for convergent validity and internal consistency has been provided. The research also proposes a nine-item version of UWES-S based on psychometric properties and item analysis. Further, student engagement is found to be negatively associated with student burnout and positively related to student life satisfaction. This research has a few limitations. Data for analysis has been obtained only from management students. Further, predictive validity has been tested with burnout and life satisfaction only.