Women, leadership and emotional intelligence

Abstract

Emotional intelligence is today, considered by researchers as being one of the primary beneficial influences on job performance and working relationships. This study is mainly focused on how Emotional Intelligence (EI) is utilised by women in leadership positions together with their views on the topic. Eight female Heads of Department at the University of Malta were interviewed using semi-structured interviews and data gathered was thematically analysed. Analysis of this data showed the crucial importance of EI in leadership roles, as participants all agreed that without EI, one couldn’t be an effective leader. It was also concluded that women perceive men to be somewhat less knowledgeable of emotions than themselves, mostly due to socialisation. The research participants also concluded that emotional intelligence is useful not only at work but in our daily lives, especially when it comes to building healthy relationships.