Determinants of Academic Performance: A Study among the Undergraduates of Sri Lankan State Universities

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to perform a scientific study on the causality of academic performance level in comparison with the emotional level of the undergraduates. Therefore, the general objective of this study is to assess the impact of emotional intelligence on level of academic performance among state university sector undergraduates in Sri Lanka. The researcher adopted a mixed method approach to scientifically collect data, analyze and come to a conclusion. The first half of the methodology was based on quantitative methodology and the findings of the statistical analysis was validated and confirmed using the qualitative data. The final sample consisted of 211 undergraduates selected at the convenience of the researches, from state universities in Sri Lanka. Data for the statistical analysis was collected through a structured questionnaire. Convenience sampling technique was applied to select the sample. The data was analyzed using Excel, SPSS and Atlas ti. The statistical analysis provided the correlation, chi square, and logistic regression that confirmed the direction of the relationship between the Emotional Intelligence and the Academic Performance. The results from Correlation Analysis, show that there is a weak positive relationship between emotional intelligence and level of academic performance. The gender of the undergraduates moderates the relationship between emotional intelligence and the level of academic performance. The qualitative data analysis reveals that there are seven factors other than Emotional Intelligence to determine on the level of academic performance. The found factors are commitment, language, work life balance, capacity, awareness, stress, medical reason, happiness and social media. The findings of the current study again confirm the general notion that the importance of emotional intelligence has been a must needed feature in learning partners