SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL COMPETENCES SELF-PERCEIVED BY THE UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS IN SPAIN

Scientific studies show that socio-emotional competencies in teachers are related to the educational success of students. Both the UNESCO and the OECD point out that comprehensive education requires the developmental of both academic and socio-affective competencies must be developed. There are political initiatives to implement socio-emotional competencies in the university curriculum, and these competencies in higher education would help to generate future professionals who are more emotionally capable, which would have a positive impact on society. Very little is known about the level of these competences in the teaching staff of the different branches of knowledge in the universities. The objective of this study is to describe the level of social-emotional competences among university teaching staff. This survey study was filled in by 1252 professors from 49 universities in Spain. The results showed that the professors self-report a high level of these competences, although there is still the possibility of improving them. The results of this study show that women score higher than men in socio-emotional competencies and in the factors of self-awareness and social awareness and prosociality, but not in decision-making. There are also significant differences according to the macro area of knowledge, where academics in Health Sciences indicates higher scores. It is recommended to carry out training actions to promote socio-emotional skills in the university, starting with its promotion among all the university teaching staff.