Preferred Name
Mason
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3669-8732
Date of Graduation
5-9-2024
Semester of Graduation
Spring
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Department of Graduate Psychology
Advisor(s)
Megan R. Good
Sara J. Finney
Joseph M. Kush
Kimberly Yousey-Elsener
Abstract
Higher education experiences routine scrutiny as the cost continues to rise and evidence of a return on investment is variable. Higher education institutions would benefit from measuring post-graduate outcomes to better articulate their impact. The current study examines the factor structure and measurement invariance of the National Alumni Career Mobility (NACM) a 25-item survey, that is widely used to assess alumni career outcomes. Prior psychometric reports for the NACM purported two different factor structures: a five-factor and bifactor model. National reports disaggregated the data by demographic variables, including first-generation status. Disaggregation by first-generation status is problematic given the lack of measurement invariance evidence for the NACM. Using two-phases, the current study 1) tested two competing factor structures (i.e., a five-factor and bifactor structure) and 2) tested measurement invariance of the championed model for first-generation status. Results supported a five-factor model. Further analysis on a secondary sample was conducted removing one item to address local misfit; thus, a five-factor model with 24 items was ultimately championed. Strong support (scalar) of measurement invariance for first-generation status was found for the championed model suggesting that observed differences in NACM scores can be attributed to latent differences in career outcomes. Overall, the study contributes to a better understanding of the factor structure of the NACM and its applicability for comparing career outcomes among first-generation and non-first-generation students.
Recommended Citation
Jones, Mason, "Measuring alumni career outcomes: A validity study" (2024). Masters Theses, 2020-current. 278.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/masters202029/278
