Application of Item Parceling in Structural Equation Modeling: A Correlational Study of Undergraduate Students` Academic Behavior, Employability, and Employment Performance

Abstract

In the recent years, undergraduate students` employability and employment performance attract public`s attention. Thus, we consider it is worth exploring an issue that the correlation between undergraduate students` academic behavior, employability and employment performance. We utilized 4,959 samples with application of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) from the 2004 undergraduate students survey of 3th graders and their tracking data a year after graduation in Taiwanese Higher Education Database. In addition, item parceling is frequently applied in SEM, so it was used and discussed in the study. There are four important findings as follows: (1) academic behavior have a positively direct effect on employability; (2) academic behavior and employability have both a positively direct effect on employment performance; (3) academic behavior has a positively mediating effect on employment performance through employability; (4) the results of SEM with item parceling could be close to the model without item parceling in a serial of appropriate procedures.