A qualitative exploration of postgraduate students' understanding of Emotional Intelligence and its potential impact on their future career development

Abstract

The purpose of this article is twofold: firstly, it will explore the degree of understanding post graduate business school students have of the topic of emotional intelligence (EI); and secondly, it will consider the extent to which they believe EI will impact their future career progression. The study was conducted at a leading Irish university. Five students were selected to take part in interviews utilising an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The findings indicated the following: 1) respondents had some degree of understanding of EI but they felt a need to learn more, and 2) the participants saw EI as important for their future careers. This study contributes to the academic discourse as there is no qualitative research on EI at third level in Irish institutions.