Measuring Perceived Employability among Higher Education Students: A Scale Development Study in Afghanistan

Abstract

In higher education, students’ perceived employability (SPE) significantly attracted authors’ attention over the last decades. Several scholars have validated scales to measure the concept. Yet an inclusive model comprising multiple internal and external factors was found to be absent in the extant literature. This study thus provides an updated multi-indicator measurement model to assist in assessing SPE and its chief components in Afghanistan. Data were collected from 755 students from six registered universities. The scale’s reliability and validity was established using the AMOS’s confirmatory factor analysis capability. Using the structural equation model (SEM)-based method, the process adopted rigorous steps to assess content validity, data symmetry, unidimensionality, construct reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, nomological validity, and model fit indices. Model validation was confirmed after the goodness-of-fit patterns and its associated validity and reliability scores had been acceptably achieved. The study justified the validation of the multi-indicator model with nine main constructs in the Afghanistan context. Additional evidence for assessing SPE beyond the validation can be provided by assessing the effects of these validated sets of components on the SPE using the complete SEM.