Stability and Predictive Validity of the Higher Education Orientations Questionnaire: A Three-Year Follow-Up

Many young adults contemplate whether and why to attend college. This study tested the stability and predictive validity of higher education orientations (HEO; profession, knowledge, social, prestige, and external) in explaining college students’ academic success (reflected in GPA and satisfaction with the major) at the beginning of the second year and their college-to-work transition success (reflected in career engagement behaviors and career decision status) at the end of college. First-year college students in Israel (N = 612) were tracked at the beginning of their first year (T1), the start of their second year (T2), and toward the end of their senior year (T3). The results revealed that within-student HEO scores were highly stable (median r_s =.90) between the first (T1) and second (T2) year. Four orientations (excluding prestige orientation) predicted academic and career transition success. Satisfaction with the major at T2 was positively predicted by knowledge orientation (β =.42), whereas first-year GPA was inversely predicted by external orientation (β = −.16). At T3, career-engagement behaviors were positively predicted by social orientation (β =.19) and inversely by external orientation (β = −.16), whereas career decision status was positively predicted by profession orientation (β =.18) and social orientation (β =.15). The role of higher education orientations in students’ career development is discussed.