Quality indicators in Higher Education: analysis of psychosocial factors of students

Abstract

The objective is to determine the influence of substance consumption, emotional intelligence, and academic context on the two main indicators of the quality of university education: academic achievement and degree of satisfaction. Participants in the study were 202 students (82.2% female; mean age 21.83 years). Data were collected with a questionnaire including six parts: sociodemographic data, substance consumption, levels of satisfaction, academic context, academic performance (calculated by averaging the grades of all exams completed) and the Trait Meta Mood Scale-24 to assess emotional intelligence. Data were analyzed through hierarchical multiple regression. The results reveal that prior achievement and satisfaction with academic advances explain 34.9% of academic achievement. However, the predictor variables of satisfaction are different: academic context (academic course and hours of study), emotional intelligence (clarity and repair), and substance consumption (hallucinogenic substances consumed in the last 12 months). All of them explained 23.1%. It is concluded that the personal determinants of university students should be dealt with transversally in order to affect achievement and satisfaction, thus improving the quality of the university system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)