The development of socio-emotional skills in higher education: assessment of a university graduate program in Emotional Education

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. An adequate insertion of university graduates to the job market require higher education institutions to develop both specific competencies to each degree, as well as transversal competencies with high market value. However, the introduction of these competences in official undergraduate degrees and master degrees is still scarce. In recent years there has been an increasing demand for training in personal skills that has led to the emergence of various postgraduate and master’s degrees in Spanish universities. In this paper, the effectiveness of postgraduate studies in emotional education and well-being in the development of the socio-emotional competences of their students is studied. METHOD. A quasi-experimental design with repeated pretest-posttest measures with a control group was used. The sample consists of 503 adults, with 288 belonging to the experimental group and a total of 215 of control group with similar characteristics. Two instruments are used: the Emotional Development Questionnaire (CDE-A) that evaluates the total emotional competence and each of its dimensions, and the G situational test based on a practical case that measures the emotional understanding and the cognitive and behavioral response with which participants face a conflictive situation. RESULTS. The results of the contrast of means (t student) show significant improvements in the total emotional competence and in each of the dimensions at the end of the postgraduate course. The size of the effect shows that the changes are of an important magnitude in all of the dimensions. From the qualitative study, it is clear that the intervention improves the precision of the identification of emotions and increases the pattern of regulatory thoughts and assertive behaviors. DISCUSSION. The development of transversal competencies in higher education is possible and necessary for the training of qualified professionals.