Exploring the Relationship between Emotional Quotient (EQ) and Teaching Success of University Teachers

Abstract

There is substantial literature and significant research that emphasize the relationship between emotional quotient and individual’s professional success. The idea, that positively exploiting emotional quotient can help individuals enhance their professional output and functionality, has gained adequate attention of those concerned with preparing and developing individuals in different academic and professional settings. Likewise, it has increasingly been asserted in the education field that studying the EQ profile of teachers would result in enhancing success in their professional pursuits. This study explores the EQ and demographic profile of a group of teachers involved in teaching Humanities and Social Sciences courses at undergraduate engineering program at a public university in Karachi. The study attempts to link the EQ profile and demographic traits of the teachers with their teaching success for possible trends. The participants of the study comprised the entire permanent and visiting faculty associated with the department of the Humanities and Social Sciences following convenience and accessibility based sampling. The data for the study comprised individual teacher’s EQ profile; demographic traits, including age, experience, gender, taught subjects; and the teaching evaluation scores. The USM Emotional Quotient Inventory (USMEQ-i) was adopted to capture the EQ profile of teachers, along with their demography. The student feedback data for each teacher, which were already available with the concerned administrative department, was used as an indicator of their professional success. The results did not show significant relationship between EQ and teacher success in general, but significant relationships were observed for subject, age and experience.