Abstract:

The relevance of emotions and its proper management becomes a key issue in the current context of uncertainty and labour competition. Having this idea in consideration, the main objective of this educational innovation article is to analyse the set of emotional competencies possessed by students of the Master's Program in Human Resource Management. Specifically, this study is carried out at two time points, at the beginning and at the end of the Master. This analysis helps to determine the evolution and acquisition of emotional competences (EC) and the relevance for their career success before their entrance in the labour market. The study incorporates a theoretical framework that justifies the role of EC in the educational system and describes those that the literature considers essential to develop in the professional environment: self-knowledge, self-control, self-motivation, empathy, leadership and social skills. Based on these constructs, a questionnaire was sent by email to the 28 students of the master's degree in HRM of the academic year 2020/2021, through the virtual campus. In the first round (January 2021), a total of 14 responses were acquired. The second round receives 9 responses (May 2021). It should be noted that during the months of January and May, the students obtained specific training from teachers and professionals about EC and Emotional Intelligence. The results obtained show that the EC levels of students at the beginning of the course are relatively high (5.6 points), considering 7 as a maximum using a Likert scale based on the literature. Even so, it should be noted that, after completing the master's degree, this score increases to 5.8 points, improving above all their self-control, self-knowledge and self-motivation EC skills. The repercussions of this work are considered of great interest, since it highlights the importance of EC in specific situations for students in their new tasks as managers such as management stress and conflicts with people and working with diverse teams in complexes cultures in an uncertain and globalized environment.

Keywords:

Emotional Competences, Emotional Intelligence, Human Resource Management, Student’s Assessments, Student’s Career Success.