Korean Version of the 17-Item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale for University Students: A Validity and Reliability Study

Work engagement is a factor that has key influence on learning outcomes for college students. The psychometric properties of the Korean version of the 17-item Utrecht work engagement scale for students (UWES-S) survey have yet to be determined. The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the 17-item UWES-S among Korean college students. A total of 248 college students were recruited from three universities in South Korea. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS and the Mplus program. Among 248 college students, the mean age was 21.19 years, and 87.5% of the students were female. Reliability was deemed satisfactory by Cronbach’s alpha 0.940, McDonald’s omega 0.941, and composite reliability 0.941. Construct validity was supported by confirmatory factor analysis results (CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.91, SRMR = 0.05, RMSEA = 0.08). Convergent validity was supported by the significant relationship between academic engagement and burnout (r = −0.344, p < 0.001). Our findings showed that the Korean version of the 17-item UWES-S was a reliable and valid instrument. This instrument can be used to assess and improve work engagement in college students.