Adaptation and validation of the University Student Engagement Scale (USES) in the Ethiopian higher education context

Purpose Considering student engagement as one of the most important factors for student success, studies attempt to conceptualize it by developing and validating various measures in different settings. However, validation efforts to establish a culturally sensitive measure to understand student engagement in the Ethiopian context are limited. Hence, the current study attempts to adapt the University Student Engagement Scale (USES) and validate its psychometric properties for use in assessing student engagement within the Ethiopian higher education environment. Design/methodology/approach Using a cross-sectional design, the study collected data from 456 undergraduate university students with a questionnaire and then analyzed it using factorial analysis methodologies such as exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Findings The study results yielded a set of 20 defined items with a five-factor structure of student engagement that includes behavioral, emotional, cognitive, agentic and sociocultural dimensions. The validated USES is a comprehensive tool and captures critical aspects of agentic and sociocultural engagement that are often overlooked in existing scales of student engagement. In addition, the USES has demonstrated acceptable item distribution properties, psychometric sensitivity, a theoretically supported factor structure, and strong evidence for validity, reliability and measurement invariance. Originality/value All these results confirm that the proposed USES is a strong tool for assessing the engagement of university students in academic and institutional activities within the Ethiopian higher education context. In the end, further discussions and conclusions are drawn.