Relationships between engagement, achievement and well-being: validation of the engagement in higher education scale

Addressing the factors associated with students' underperformance, dropout rates, and mental health challenges is a pressing concern for university institutions. Favorable conditions for student engagement emerges as a potential solution to mitigate these issues. Therefore, there is a need for instruments that assess the multiple dimensions of the construct and relate them to significant variables in the lives of students and institutions. This study presents the initial validation of the Higher Education Engagement Scale (EiHES) in a sample of 760 students who responded to an online survey. Results of both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses using two random subsamples revealed that the scale comprises six dimensions of engagement: academic learning, online, cognitive, social with teachers, social with peers, and affective. All subscales showed adequate reliability indicators. Measurement invariance across gender was established up to the metric models. Evidence of validity was supported by associations between engagement with academic achievement and subjective well-being. The EiHES provides a comprehensive perspective of student engagement and appears to be a suitable instrument for assessing the construct in Portuguese university students. The discussion included limitations and suggestions for future research.