Emotional Intelligence, Self-Efficacy, and the Perceived Employability of Traditional Undergraduate Business Students in a Private Midwest Educational Institution

Emotional intelligence has gained increasing popularity since its definition and subsequent research 30 years ago. Numerous studies have focused on emotional intelligence and undergraduate students, and studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between a student with higher emotional intelligence and their academic and mental abilities. Undergraduate students have also been the focus of research related to self-efficacy and perceived employability, but those two facets have not been tied together with emotional intelligence. Additionally, managers have noted a skills gap for graduating students entering the workforce as students seem to be lacking emotional intelligence while thinking they have a sufficient amount. This study focused on traditional undergraduate students within the College of Business at a private Midwest institution and aimed to determine if there was a correlation between their emotional intelligence and self-efficacy, their self-efficacy and perceived employability, and their emotional intelligence and perceived employability. A positive correlation was found to exist for all three. This study may be a starting point for academicians to further research the emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, and perceived employability of undergraduate students. Additionally, it may support higher education institutions developing ways to increase those facets of their students in order to best prepare them for employment upon graduation