The Incremental Effect of Students’ Engagement, over and above Emotional Intelligence, on Students’ Academic Achievement

Abstract

Studies examining variations in students’ Academic Achievement (AA) have considered several factors including demographic factors such as age and gender; socio-cultural factors such as family background; university- related factors; student-related factors such as learning styles and socio-economic factors such as family income and expenditure. Two more factors that have gained prominence in the literature are the students’ Emotional Intelligence (EI) and engagement (SE). Multiple studies have reported on the separate effect that the two constructs have on students’ academic achievement. Nevertheless, to the researchers’ knowledge, few have reported on the incremental effect that engagement might have, over and above emotional intelligence, on students’ academic achievement. Thus, the aim of the current study is to fill the gap by exploring the extent to which students’ engagement can contribute to their achievement while controlling for emotional intelligence. The research is quantitative based on a survey questionnaire distributed to a sample of 100 business students with only 93 valid entries. Collected primary data were processed using the Statistical Product and Service Solutions SPSS version 24 and analyses were performed using descriptive as well as inferential methods. Research outcomes provide additional insights on the incremental effect of students’ engagement, academic achievement, over and above emotional intelligence and call for higher education institutions and policy makers to provide and/or adjust their academic and non-academic activities to reinforce a constructive and productive students’ experiences.