Birinci sınıf öğrencilerinin duygusal zekâsı ve ekip çalışması memnuniyet düzeyleri. Cinsiyet ve uyruk açısından karşılaştırmalı bir çalışma

Zeka katsayısı (IQ) akademik başarı için yeterli bir belirteç olmadığı, duygularımız ve diğer bireyler ile olan ilişkilerimizi daha etkin şekilde ele almamıza yardımcı olabilen duygusal zekânın (EI) ise başarımızın %80'ine kadarından sorumlu olabileceği (Goleman, 1995), genel olarak kabul edilen bir görüştür. Bu durum, ekip ya da grup çalışması gerektiren dersleri alan öğrenciler için özellikle önemli görünmektedir. Daha yüksek EI düzeyine sahip öğrencilerin akademik ve sosyal başarıya ulaşmaları daha olasıdır. Ancak bu, daha düşük EI düzeyine sahip olan ve bu nedenle etkili ekip çalışması için gereken becerilerden yoksun olan birinci sınıf öğrencileri için zorlu bir görevdir. Bu durum, ekip çalışması için daha düşük memnuniyet düzeyleri ile sonuçlanabilmekte ve dolayısıyla başarılarını olumsuz olarak etkileyebilmektedir. EI'nin etkili ekip çalışmasına yönelik sözü edilen belirgin önemini ele alan çalışmamızda, Abu Dabi'deki Petroleum Institute'un mühendislik bölümü birinci sınıf öğrencilerinin EI düzeyleri ölçülerek, EI ile ekip çalışması memnuniyet düzeyleri arasındaki ilişki incelenmektedir. Veriler, Schutte Duygusal Zeka Ölçeği (EIS) ve Küresel Memnuniyet Ölçeği (GSS) kullanılarak toplandı. Çalışmaya 285 öğrenci (203 erkek ve 82 kız) katılmıştır. Katılımcıların 240'ı Birleşik Arap Emirlikleri öğrencisiyken, 45'i diğer Arap ülkelerinden gelen öğrencilerdi. Verileri cinsiyet ve uyruk değişkenlerine göre karşılaştırmak amacıyla Student t testi kullanıldı, EIS ile GSS puanları arasındaki ilişkinin kuvvetini ölçmek amacıyla da Pearson momentler çarpımı korelasyon katsayısından yararlanıldı. Sonuçlar, Schuttle ve Malouff'un (1998) hesapladığı, ilk yıl üniversite öğrencilerinin ortalama 126 puanı ile karşılaştırıldığında, öğrencilerin genel EI puanlarının ortalamanın hemen altında olduğunu gösterdi. Uyruk bakımından istatistiksel olarak herhangi bir anlamlı farklılık bulunmasa da, kız öğrencilerin EI puanlarının, erkek öğrencilerin puanlarından istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir şekilde farklı olduğu görüldü. GSS sonuçları, öğrencilerin ekip memnuniyeti düzeylerinin ortalamanın üzerinde olduğunu ve EIS ile GSS puanları arasında güçlü bir pozitif korelasyon bulunduğunu, bunun da daha yüksek EI düzeyli öğrenciler için memnuniyet düzeylerinin daha yüksek olduğu anlamına geldiğini gösterdi. Düşük EI düzeylerine rağmen daha yüksek ekip çalışması memnuniyeti düzeylerinin ortaya çıkmasının, kişiyi negatif duyguları açık şekilde ifade etmekten alıkoyan Arap kültürünün kolektivist yapısından kaynaklanabileceği söylenebilir.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Duygusal zekâ, ekip çalışması memnuniyeti, mühendislik eğitimi, sosyal beceriler.

Freshman Students' Emotional Intelligence and Team-Work Satisfaction Levels. A Comparative Study: Gender and Nationality

It is generally accepted that intelligence quotient (IQ) is not a sufficient predictor of academic success, and that emotional intelligence (EI), which can helps us handle our emotions and relationships with others more effectively, can account for as much as 80% of our success. This appears to be particularly important for students who take courses requiring team or group work. Students with higher levels of EI are more likely to achieve academic and social success. However, this is a formidable challenge for freshman students who have a lower EI, and thus lack the skills necessary for effective team-work. This may result in reduced levels of satisfaction with team-work and therefore adversely affect their success (Goleman, 1995). With this apparent importance of EI for effective team-work, the current study measured the EI levels of freshman engineering students at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi, and examined the relationship between EI and team-work satisfaction levels. Data were gathered using the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) and the Global Satisfaction Scale (GSS). 285 students (203 males and 82 females) participated in the study. 240 of the participants were Emirati students, while 45 were other Arab expatriate students. Student t-test was used to compare the data according to gender and nationality variables, and the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used to measure the strength of association between EIS and GSS scores. The results showed that the students' overall EI score was just below average as compared to a mean score of 126 for first year college students computed by Schuttle and Malouff (1998). The female students' EI score was found to be different from that of the male students at a statistically significant level although no statistically significant difference was detected regarding nationality. The results from GSS indicated that the students' team satisfaction level was above average, and there was a strong positive correlation between their EIS and GSS scores suggesting that the satisfaction levels were higher for students with higher EI levels. It is discussed that the higher level of team-work satisfaction despite the lower levels of EI might be due to the collectivist nature of the Arab culture, which discourages expressing negative emotions explicitly.

Keywords:

Emotional intelligence, engineering education, soft-skills, team-work satisfaction.,

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