Emotional Intelligence and Problem-Solving Correlations and Impact on Employability: A Case Study from the UAE

Abstract

In this study, we aim to address questions about how UAE Leadership Development Plans and Employability connect with current students in UAE classrooms by evaluating the correlation between the employability of UAE university students and their emotional intelligence (EI) and problem-solving skills. Moreover, we cover what must be considered in the curricula of UAE Universities to prepare future leaders to lead the workforce . To that end, we employed an employability test developed by AQR International UK and collected data from 310 undergraduate students aged 17 to 55. Both EI and problem-solving skills were strongly positively correlated with employability (p < .001). Even though male participants scored higher than female participants for EI and problem-solving skills, analysis of variance revealed nonsignificant gender differences (p > .05 for these variables. Our study underscored the critical role of EI and problem-solving skills in facilitating leadership potential among university students. These insights are particularly instrumental in informing the higher education curriculum and in assessing employability and leadership potential.