Translation and psychometric validation of the chinese version of the engineering identity scale

Abstract

: The availability of a psychometrically robust instrument is essential for assessing professional identity, while there are relatively few validated measures of engineering identity in cross-cultural settings. This study aimed to translate and validate the Engineering Identity Scale (EIS) in the China context. The sample comprised 1024 engineering students in Shanxi, China (females = 42.3%, chemical and material engineering = 29.3%). The measure validation involved four stages: translation with back-translation, cognitive interviews to assess face validity, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the validity and reliability of the instrument, and multi-group CFA (MGCFA) to test measurement invariance across gender, academic year, and engineering discipline. Cognitive interview results with the participants indicated that the translated instrument was clear and comprehensible. CFA supported the original one-factor structure, with adequate validity and reliability of scores. MGCFA supported configural, metric, scalar, and strict invariance across gender and academic year, and scalar invariance across engineering disciplines. Overall, the Chinese version of the EIS is a valid and reliable instrument for use in engineering education research to assess engineering students’ identity development and facilitate meaningful comparisons across student groups.