02/01/2025

Developing Emotional Intelligence for College and Career Success: An Institution’s Digitally-Enabled Approach

By Segun Ogunwale and Akintomiwa Ogunnika

Educators have realized that many students face challenges when they lack the emotional intelligence required to cope with the rigors of higher education (Igbo et al., 2016). Researchers have shown that emotional intelligence increases with age (Chen et al., 2016). Over time, accumulating life experiences provides more opportunities for self-awareness, reflection, and a better understanding of oneself.

Scholars have established the relationship between emotional intelligence and educational and vocational success. Emotional intelligence is “the ability to understand and manage your emotions, as well as recognize and influence the emotions of those around you” (Laundry, 2019, para. 3). Individuals with high levels of this skill often exhibit a strong motivation to succeed and set goals, which are essential building blocks of high performance (Tam et al., 2021).

The journey to developing emotional intelligence begins with self-awareness, defined as “the ability to recognize and understand one’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions” (Wallbridge, 2023, para. 5). One institution recognized the importance of self-awareness as a core component of emotional intelligence for students' college and career success and sought to help their students develop these skills.

The Career Services team at Pan-Atlantic University in Lagos, Nigeria, decided to incorporate initiatives to help students develop self-awareness during their internships, which would prepare them for their future academic and industry journeys. Students enter higher education in Nigeria earlier than in other countries. The minimum age is 16, compared to 18 or 19 in the United States or United Kingdom. This early age presents unique challenges (Aborisade, 2024). The complexities increase for private institutions, where many first-year students are 15 to 17 years of age.

In response to students’ presenting needs, the career services staff at Pan-Atlantic University collaborated with Bridgia, an EdTech startup providing digital content to bridge the gap between education and employment. This partnership led to the development of a Self-Awareness Assessment Chatbot, named Kiki, accessible to students via a weblink on the career portal. Students engaged in conversations with Kiki, answering reflective statements that assessed their abilities across various areas of self-awareness and emotional intelligence, including the following:

• Accurate self-awareness
• Emotional self-awareness
• Empathy
• Optimism
• Self-confidence
• Self-control
• Transparency
• Conflict management

Students responded to Kiki by rating how true or not each of these reflective statements is for them. Examples include:

• “I reflect on my past experiences, even those where I haven’t been at my best, and try to learn from them”
• “I am aware of what’s important to me, such as my values and goals, and can clearly articulate them”
• “I am comfortable admitting my mistakes and apologizing for them before being called out.”

The chatbot analyzed students' responses and generated personalized reports that provided insights into their levels across these areas. Students received their reports via email, and the career office received an additional copy. A spreadsheet also provided detailed reports on each student and an overview of the class’s overall performance. The report offered further insights into the percentage of students who had previously read a book or received training in self-awareness and emotional intelligence. The report also included the gender distribution and scores across competencies in these areas and highlighted each student's variance from the average class performance.

Result and Impact
Over 1,500 students used the Self-Awareness Assessment tool, and two more institutions adopted the platform the following year. Career services staff use the reports to provide personalized interventions to students whose awareness level falls below a baseline. Students' usage of the assessment tool led to the development of an email newsletter that expanded on the eight competencies assessed, providing tips and resources for students to improve their self-awareness and emotional intelligence skills.

Student feedback on the tool has been largely positive. For many, this is the first kind of soft skill assessment tool they were exposed to. However, some students complained that the quantitative reporting format of the tool led to unnecessary comparisons with other students.

The rollout of this tool was followed up with the development of e-learning programs covering self-awareness in the career foundation program for first-year students and emotional intelligence as a workplace skill for students to embark on an internship (see more about the internship preparatory program here: https://bridgia.net/courses/pau-irp-2024/). The results of a pre-post assessment tool that is now a key component of these programs revealed increased student readiness to commence their internships.

Empowering Students
Emotional intelligence is crucial for college and career success. While many students meet academic requirements, they may need to develop emotional intelligence to thrive. Higher education institutions can support these students by implementing digital initiatives to help them build essential emotional intelligence skills. These efforts can enhance students' academic and career outcomes and improve their overall well-being.

References

Aborisade, S. (2024, May 2). UTME: 16 years minimum age requirement for varsity admission stays, says Senate. THISDAY Live. https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2024/05/02/utme-16-years-minimum-age-requirement-for-varsity-admission-stays-says-senate/

Chen, Y., Peng, Y., & Fang, P. (2016). Emotional intelligence mediates the relationship between age and subjective well-being. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development/International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 83(2), 91–107. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091415016648705

Igbo, J. N., Nwaka, R. N., Mbagwu, F., & Mezieobi, D. (2016). Emotional intelligence as a correlate of social and academic adjustment of first-year university students in South East GEO–Political Zone of Nigeria. ABC Journal of Advanced Research, 5(1), 9–20. https://doi.org/10.18034/abcjar.v5i1.54

Laundry, L. (2019, April 3). Why emotional intelligence is important in leadership. Harvard Business School Online. https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/emotional-intelligence-in-leadership

Tam, H., Kwok, S. Y., Hui, A. N., Chan, D. K., Leung, C., Leung, J., Lo, H., & Lai, S. (2021). The significance of emotional intelligence to students’ learning motivation and academic achievement: A study in Hong Kong with a Confucian heritage. Children and Youth Services Review, 121, 105847. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105847

Wallbridge, A. (2023, October 28). The importance of self-awareness in emotional intelligence. TSW Training. https://www.tsw.co.uk/blog/leadership-and-management/self-awareness-in-emotional-intelligence/

Segun Ogunwale is the co-founder and CEO of Bridgia, an EdTech company that helps bridge the gap between education and employment. Bridgia partners with higher institutions and companies to provide programs, assessments, and tools to support career development and transitions into the workplace. Segun's expertise spans instructional design, the deployment of learning management systems, and workforce learning and development. His writings on higher education and the world of work have been featured in the World Economic Forum, University World News, and the Africa Report. He holds a first degree with honours in Computer Science and a Master's degree with distinction in Management of Information Technology. He passionately believes in Africa's potential to emerge as a key player in the world’s knowledge economy and powerhouse for talents. He can be reached at Segun@bridgia.africa

Akintomiwa Ogunnika is a co-founder and COO at Bridgia. In 2019, Akintomiwa was a CcHub Media Fellow, with his experimental short film Out of Reach winning the best film in the unemployment segment of the Fellowship's final project. He has a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, Akintomiwa believes in the transformative power of stories and strives to create globally standard content across various media. A content developer and screenwriter, Akintomiwa has worked on numerous projects, including Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (The Rebirth), Amazon Studios' Last One Laughing Naija, and was most recently the Writer/Content Producer on Channels Television Original, Fund It Forward. He can be reached at tomiwa@bridgia.africa