A comparative analysis of emotional intelligence and intelligence quotient among Saudi business students’ toward academic performance

Sania Khan

doi:10.1177/1847979019880665

Abstract

Understanding the determinants of student learning outcomes and their academic performance is never being easy. Most of the studies examined the impact of emotional intelligence (EI) and intelligence quotient (IQ) on academic performance discretely, and their combined influence was not studied. The study identifies various dimensions of EI and IQ and investigates their impact on university business students’ academic performance comparatively among private and public university students. The data relevant to this study were collected from 416 students of various Business Colleges of Saudi central province universities, using online survey questionnaire. Structural equation modeling analysis using SPSS AMOS was used to evaluate the data. The private students possess a significant IQ, and their academic performance is primarily driven by IQ and with high EI; whereas public sector students possess moderate EI with insignificant IQ levels and tend to perform average in their academics. All the measurement items of EI and IQ explained only 43.6% of variance in public student’s performance and 56.3% in private student’s performance. The study argues the cognitive intelligence is very purposive in academics but narrow in nature and does not extend the horizon of student’s lifelong learning. Therefore, EI is vital and plays a prominent role in supporting their IQ as well. The study is limited to only business students; therefore, findings may not be generalized to other academic domains and for master level students. It suggests to conduct further studies to explore relationship among various exogenous variables.

Highlights

The widespread of global phenomena of international education have made it more challenging for academicians to understand the cognitive and emotional intelligence (EI) of university undergraduate students even from the domestic perspective, as it will always have a pragmatic effect on student’s learning process and achievements
According to many previous theories and research studies, these kinds of pupil will succeed both in their academics and in professional lives as well. This finding is consistent with the study of Azizi Y. et al.,[16] which states the significant EI can augment the intelligence quotient (IQ) of students and supports in the improvement of overall academic performance (AP)
The study recommends to implement a subtle approach by addition of logical, reasoning, application kind of questions, and learning through critical incident method to bring out the best possible prospects of sustaining managerial skills and personality qualities in graduates to inculcate in them the employability skills that are prerequisite for their professional life

Summary

Introduction

The widespread of global phenomena of international education have made it more challenging for academicians to understand the cognitive and emotional intelligence (EI) of university undergraduate students even from the domestic perspective, as it will always have a pragmatic effect on student’s learning process and achievements. Most of the employers evaluate quality of graduated applicants from various viewpoints of intelligence and operational competencies These days it is very commonly noticed among the young generation who engaged in managerial jobs, consistently facing job insecurity with insufficient managerial skills despite being a management or business student in their academics. Most of the past studies categorized the set of abilities and capabilities as hard and soft skills Where the former can be inculcated to some extent through a persistent learning process, but the latter do come with inherent qualities from family members. Goleman[1] argued academic intelligence itself is not sufficient to anticipate a person’s success, and their IQ stands secondary even in the job performance. The intelligent individual is one who has ability to understand intricate ideas, develops adaptation in any situation, learn from their experiences, and generates alternatives by being emotionally sound.[2]

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