THE FACTOR STRUCTURE AND PREDICTIVE-VALIDITY OF BURBACHS UNIVERSITY ALIENATION SCALE

The purpose of the study was to assess the dimensionality, discriminan t and predictive validities of a 15-item version of Burbach's Universi ty Alienation Scale. A total of 228 graduate students completed a ques tionnaire containing measures of alienation, commitment, locus of cont rol, perceived likelihood of leaving, and withdrawal cognitions. Based on the partial identification numbers that they furnished voluntarily , follow-up data were obtained on the status of 121 respondents 12 mon ths later. The findings confirmed the three-factor structure of the Bu rbach Alienation Scale but indicated that two of its items should be d eleted. Based on confirmatory factor analytic results and correlations with locus of control, alienation and affective commitment appear to be distinct constructs. Although alienation failed to correlate with g raduate student attrition after 12 months (p > .05), commitment, perce ived likelihood of leaving, and withdrawal cognitions did (r = -.36, . 52, and .24, respectively, p < .005, one-tailed). Contrary to the popu lar assumption, minority graduate students at this predominantly White university did not report higher levels of alienation (p > .05).