Assessing Science Education Undergraduates’ Possession of Emotional Intelligence Skills for Sustenance in the Professional World

This study examined science education undergraduates’ possession of emotional intelligence skills for sustenance in the professional world. The sample consists of 342 science education undergraduates drawn from a population of 3432 undergraduates in Imo State, Nigeria. The Survey research design was adopted for this study. The study was guided by 2 research questions and 1 hypothesis. The research questions were answered with Mean and Standard Deviation while the hypothesis was tested using independent samples t-test. The Instrument used for data collection is a researcher made rating Scale titled: “Emotional Intelligence Skills Rating Scale†(RTMSP). Coefficient of internal consistency was established at 0.82 using Cronbach alpha reliability. Findings from the study show that science education undergraduates possess some dimensions of emotional intelligence skills while some dimensions are lacking. The study also show there is no significant difference between the emotional intelligence skills of male and female science education undergraduates. The researchers recommended that: emotional intelligence skills should be emphasized in schools by lecturers, psychologists, guidance counsellors, support staff etc of various universities during formal (classroom teachings) and outside classroom settings (social media channels); guidance counsellors of various education faculties in universities, should develop or adopt emotional intelligence tests and subject undergraduates to these tests occasionally in order to trace progress of the undergraduates in development of emotional intelligence skills; Science education undergraduates should constantly adopt strategies of boosting their emotional intelligence using online emotional intelligence scales, occasional sessions with school psychologists and counsellors on emotional intelligence etcetera.