Trait Emotional Intelligence and Academic Engagement

This study examined the measured levels of trait emotional intelligence (TEI) as it related to the academic engagement behaviours of students, as well, the effect on persistence and student retention rates. The primary purpose of this research was to focus in greater depth on the non-academic aspects of student success and persistence, and provide a more extensive understanding of the nature and description of the non-academic capabilities of students that effect their motivation, goal setting and active participation in the academic process. The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF) (Petrides, 2009) was used to measure the TEI levels of first year students. The second survey, measuring engagement, integrated questions from the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) post-secondary engagement roster (Statistics Canada, 1998- 2011) and eight academic self-efficacy questions utilized by Chemers, Hu and Garcia (2001).