Basic business knowledge scale for secondary education students. Development and validation with Spanish teenagers

INTRODUCTION: In the current international context, entrepreneurship education claims a privileged place within educational systems, given that it contributes decisively to innovation and to the set of competences demanded in the new knowledge-based economy. The state of the research in this line highlights the existing formative deficiencies at these basic education levels, despite the fact that numerous initiatives of fostering business culture have already been developed. Among the currently existing gaps, conspicuous by its absence is the lack of instruments capable of efficiently measure the basic business knowledge, needed to progressively constitute a consistent business identity stands out. In this sense, we set ourselves the construction and validation of a basic business knowledge scale for the Secondary Education stage. METHODS: This study was implemented in two phases. In the first phase, the dimensions and components of the Basic Business Knowledge Scale were identified via a systematic review of the literature following the PRISMA-P protocol and a qualitative study. In the second phase, the scale was developed and validated. On the one hand, a content validation was conducted through interviews of experts and students, studying the content validity (the Content Validity Ratio and the Content Validity Index) and the face validity (Think-aloud protocols). On the other hand, the construct validity was analyzed through an Explanatory Factor Analysis (EFA) and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Then, the reliability was calculated with the Cronbach Alpha and the test stability with a test-retest. The convergent validity has been validated by the average variance extracted (AVE) and the discriminant validity between constructs was established through the AVE estimated for each construct with the squared interconstruct correlations associated with that factor. The sample was made up of 1440 students (679 girls and 761 boys) from age 11 to 17 (M = 14.6, SD = 1.597). RESULTS: The EFA and the CFA showed evidence of a first-order three-factor structure (Knowledge in Business Management (KBM), Legal Knowledge (LK) and Strategic Knowledge (SK)), and a second-order factor, Basic Business Knowledge. In the construct validity two items were eliminated due to their factor loadings being lower than .40. The results of the fit indices contributed acceptable values regarding the proposed model. The three subscales and the scale as a whole revealed a satisfactory internal consistency with Cronbach alphas over .75. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was above .90, showing an appropriate stability. The convergent validity offers values over .80 in the composite reliability (CR) and the average variance extracted (AVE) is greater than .50. Moreover, in the divergent validity, the values of the square root of the AVE are greater than the correlations with the other constructs. Finally, the Basic Business Knowledge Scale has 18 items. CONCLUSIONS: We find evidence concerning the validity and reliability of the Basic Business Knowledge Scale, tested with Spanish Secondary Education students within the compulsory stage of teaching. We believe that this Scale can contribute to a better understanding of the formation of indispensable basic culture to establish a genuine business spirit.