The Development and Validation of a Career Aspirations Questionnaire for High School Students and Its Impact on Academic Performance

ABSTRACT Career aspirations of high school students is a significant motivational force for learning engagement. However, validated methods for probing their career aspirations remain unestablished. Study 1 used 1455 high school students to develop a career aspirations questionnaire (CAQ). The CAQ was developed through item generation, pretesting, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and a series of validation procedures. The CAQ comprises four dimensions: social reputation, social contribution, occupational interest, and interpersonal communication. The questionnaire demonstrated strong reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.85; composite reliability = 0.85; test‐retest reliability = 0.90), and its content, construct, convergent, and discriminant validity were verified. Study 2 validated the mechanism by which career aspirations impact academic performance, while also verifying the empirical validity of CAQ with 481 students. The results revealed that higher levels of career aspirations among high school students were significantly associated with improved academic performance (β = 0.442, p < 0.001). Moreover, learning engagement partially mediated the relationship between career aspirations and academic performance (b = 0.525, SE = 0.164), with the indirect effect accounting for 22.3% of the total effect. In summary, the CAQ can serve as a practical tool for measuring the career aspirations of general high school students.