Assessing the Validity of Measuring Intention to Innovate Among First-Year PhD Students

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 1:30 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Evaluation and Learning in STEM Education  and Beyond (Table 5)

Abstract

Given the importance of innovation for economic and societal growth, higher education stakeholders are eager to develop the capacity to innovate among postsecondary students. To effectively research innovation capacity and development, the ability to robustly measure various aspects of this capacity – including students’ intention to innovate – across different subpopulations of students is crucial. We used confirmatory factor analysis and measurement invariance testing to assess the validity of a four-item model for intention to innovate among first-generation college students (FGS) seeking doctorates. Our findings suggest that the measurement model for intention to innovate can reliably be used for research investigating the intention to innovate of PhD students regardless of parental education, or to detect group differences between FGS and continuing-generation students.

Authors

• Susannah W Townsend, The Ohio State University

• Yun-Han Weng, The Ohio State University

• Matthew J. Mayhew, The Ohio State University