Abstract
Background: Corporate entrepreneurial activity and innovation are presented as essential
elements of organisational success, and gender diversity is often seen as an important variable
in this context. The efficient measurement of these variables is essential to the management
thereof. It is within this context that the Brief Corporate Entrepreneurship Assessment
Instrument (BCEAI) was developed. Shorter instruments seem to be favoured by researchers
and practitioners alike. However, little is known about the psychometric properties of the
BCEAI, particularly regarding measurement invariance.
Aim: This study seeks to address the structural validity and measurement invariance for the
BCEAI applied for men and women. The objective was to establish the utility of the instrument
within the South African context, with specific emphasis on cross-gender comparisons.
Setting: Medium to large South African organisations, with more than 60 employees, were
targeted for inclusion in the study. Once organisations indicated their willingness to participate,
60 employees per organisation were randomly selected to participate in the study.
Methods: Data on the BCEAI were captured and pairwise multi-group confirmatory factor
analyses with robust maximum likelihood estimation were used to examine four levels of
measurement invariance, as well as the equivalence of latent means pertaining to male and
female respondents.
Results: Data were collected from 3180 employees representing 52 South African organisations.
The results support the structural validity of the BCEAI and demonstrate strict measurement
invariance for the BCEAI across gender. Equivalence of latent means across gender was also
supported.
Conclusion: These results reveal that the BCEAI mirrors the structure of the original instrument
in the South African context and that BCEAI yields psychometrically equivalent scores among
employees of both genders. Researchers and practitioners can therefore use the BCEAI with
the knowledge that its theoretical structure is sound and can apply it with confidence when
comparing male and female employees in the workplace.