Embarking on a journey to study in a foreign country is a life-changing decision that goes beyond academics. International students are crossing a huge cultural difference where they need to get used to if they want to have experiences from this opportunity. Emotional Intelligence emerges as a crucial factor influencing the happiness and success of these students in their new chapter of life in another country.
Emotional Intelligence is known for being the ability to understand and manage your emotions, as well as recognize and influence the emotions of those around you. (Landry, 2019). It is important to point out that foreign students are constantly facing challenges beyond the academic area, requiring emotional skills to get to know better the intricacies of their new life.
Stress and anxiety are common reactions in foreign students when they need to get to their new reality. Emotional Intelligence lets them identify those feelings, promoting a better way of taking decisions and developing strategies to affront daily challenges. Adaptability is important when students are going through huge changes, such as moving to another country. Emotional intelligence lets the international students be more flexible, adjusting their expectations, and adopting an open mindset to their new experiences.
Resilience is the capacity to recover from difficulties. Foreign students can find personal, academic, and cultural obstacles. Emotional intelligence strengthens their capacity to get through these kinds of situations, learn from the experiences and keep going with determination. It is crucial to point out that there are many factors that has an immense influence in this part of the student´s life; their families and support are fundamental in this process.
“Daniel Goleman published the New York Times bestselling book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ in 1995, which took a deep look into the critical importance of understanding and assessing EI. Goleman went so far as to say that someday accurately assessing EI could become more important than measuring IQ as far as levels of intelligence are concerned (Goleman, 2005; Meshkat and Nejati, 2017).”
One of the most important topics about the EI in foreign students is the emotional quotient known as the ability to understand emotions and manage them. This is related to the EI because if the students understand their emotions and let themselves feel those, it is going to be easier for them to understand how to deal with them. The EQ will help them to be more self-aware, understand their strengths and weaknesses, and identify their motivations. This will make students achieve realistic goals, make future informed decisions, and maintain a healthy relationship with others, but most importantly with themselves.
It is crucial that the students have these kinds of topics present when they make these decisions. Are Topic that not many people speak about but is a huge part of all foreign students process outside their country. Not only the students, but their families and future institutions that they are going to be staying for a while. Is an important area of the student´s development. It is fundamental to read books, websites, blogs, and in some cases find professional help to get the necessary information about these amazing tools that help to improve the student´s experience in a foreign country.
References
Al-Qadri, A. H., Zhao, W., Li, M., Al-Khresheh, M. H., & Boudouaia, A. (2022). Emotional Intelligence Scale for International Students: A proposal for a developed version. Frontiers in Education, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.853303
Lauren Landry. (2019). Why Emotional Intelligence is Important in Leadership. Harvard Business School. https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/emotional-intelligence-in-leadership
What are the Four Steps of Emotional Intelligence: A Concise Guide - Evolved Metrics. (n.d.). Evolved Metrics. https://evolvedmetrics.com/what-are-the-four-steps-of-emotional-intelligence/#:~:text=Emotional%20intelligence%20consists%20of%20four,emotions%2C%20strengths%2C%20and%20weaknesses
About the Author
Nicole Valverde and Javier Bru