Development of a Korean version of the job expectations scale for dental hygienists

Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a Korean-adapted version of the job expectations scale for dental hygienists. Methods: To achieve this goal, a comprehensive methodology was employed, including frequency analysis, exploratory factor analysis (maximum likelihood, direct oblimin rotation), confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach’s α reliability, independent t-test, and one-way ANOVA (Duncan post-hoc test) were performed. Results: The Korean version of job expectations scale for dental hygienists comprised 21 items in the personal domain and 5 items in the social domain. The scale demonstrated high construct validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and reliability were found. While dental hygienists were found to have higher expectations in the their personal domain than the social domain, expectations in the social domain were higher among male hygienists, those with a bachelor’s degree or higher, those in regular permanent employment, and those working in hospital-level or higher facilities. Conclusions: Job expectations is a more comprehensive construct than job roles or professional identity. We anticipate that the instrument will be widely used to analyze trends in job expectations in response to changes in societal values regarding to dental hygienists, the gap between realities and ideals within the dental hygiene profession, and policy considerations.