Relationship of Emotional Intelligence with academic scores and gender in students of Masters in Health Professions Education (MHPE) at a Public Sector University

Objective

To determine the correlation between Emotional Intelligence (EI) scores and academic scores and identify other factors that have a relationship with EI.

Methods

Cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in the year 2021 on 52 students enrolled in three batches of the MHPE program of a public sector university in Karachi. Data was collected by using Sterrett's Emotional Quotient Self-Assessment Checklist along with a self-constructed form for obtaining demographic profile information. Descriptive analysis was done by calculating percentage, mean and standard deviation. The correlation was done by using Spearman rho and association was tested by Chi-square.

Results

Data from forty-one participants showed that the majority need to improve their EI. Females and married participants had higher EI scores. There was a significant positive correlation between EI scores and academic performance but no significant association was found between EI and gender of the participants.

Conclusion

The study showed that EI competencies have a strong positive correlation with the academic performance of MHPE students. Hence, it emphasizes the need for including development of EI in the outcomes and curricula of the existing MHPE program.

Extended physical education in children aged 6-15 years was associated with improved academic achievement in boys

AIM

Physical activity (PA) has been associated with enhanced cognition, brain development and concentration. This study evaluated whether increased physical education (PE) improved academic achievement.

METHODS

We recruited 304 children (55% boys) from a Swedish school in Skane County in 1998-2002 when they were six to seven years of age and followed them through all nine mandatory school years. Their PE level was increased from 60 to 200 minutes per week, and their results were compared with 73 885 control children (51% boys) in the county who graduated in the same years and did the standard 60 minutes of PE per week. Their academic achievements were measured as their final grade scores and the proportion of students eligible for upper secondary school.

RESULTS

The eligibility for further education increased in the intervention boys by 6.8 percentage points and the mean grade score by 12.1 points, while in the control group as a whole, the eligibility rate decreased by 0.7 percentage points and the mean grade score increased by 1.7 points. No changes in eligibility rates or mean grade scores were seen in the intervention girls.

CONCLUSION

Increasing weekly PE over nine years was associated with improved academic achievement in boys.