Emotional Intelligence and Employability in Online Education

Written by Ranee Boyd Tomlin, Ph.D.

When Daniel Goleman published Emotional Intelligence in 1995, it reframed how we think about success in the workplace and in life. Over my years working in higher education—career services, academic advising, and human resources—I’ve observed firsthand how emotional intelligence often determines whether a candidate advances beyond the resume stage. Employers may appreciate technical skills, but long-term hiring, promotion, and retention hinge on self-awareness, interpersonal ability, and emotional self-regulation.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) and other employer surveys consistently list communication, teamwork, initiative, and interpersonal skills among the most sought-after qualities. Goleman’s description—motivation and persistence in the face of frustration, impulse control, mood regulation, empathy, and hope—captures why these attributes matter. Technical competencies can be taught or updated as job requirements change; emotional intelligence is far more durable and, for employers, far more difficult to instill after hiring.

In hiring decisions, I’ve seen managers repeatedly favor candidates who demonstrate emotional maturity. Given equal or similar technical backgrounds, employers choose the person who shows empathy, accountability, and the ability to collaborate. Organizations simply cannot afford to wait for new hires to “grow up” emotionally while projects and budgets demand immediate, reliable performance.

My current role is on a 100-percent online campus of a public university. Online education addresses a growing demand, especially among nontraditional students, and offers an opportunity to develop and highlight employability skills such as time management, self-motivation, digital collaboration, computer literacy, and independent learning. These are real assets in today’s job market and overlap substantially with emotional intelligence.

At the same time, online instruction—especially asynchronous formats—creates unique challenges for fostering interpersonal skills. Much of my interaction with students is limited to email and phone; video conferencing is often avoided because of accessibility and bandwidth concerns. This faceless communication can lead to misunderstandings, blunt exchanges, and even hostile messages that students might not deliver face-to-face. For some learners, that emotional distance is part of the appeal of online education. For advisors and instructors, it makes modeling professional behavior and promoting emotional intelligence more important and more difficult.

When a student directs anger or an emotional outburst at me or other staff, my aim is not to punish but to teach. I prioritize professional, respectful, and empathetic responses, regardless of the initial tone. Modeling calm, clear communication often diffuses tension and demonstrates that anonymity or distance is not a justification for disrespect. I explain policies, provide perspective, and emphasize that the educational environment is a shared enterprise that requires fairness, accountability, and mutual respect.

I speak with students about self-awareness and self-management, about how to communicate effectively with instructors and peers, and about persistence and motivation. I treat students as if they are already part of a workplace team, rehearsing the skills that will help them be hired and retained. When advising, I make explicit connections between course behaviors—timely communication, constructive participation, collaborative problem-solving—and employer expectations.

For colleges and career centers, integrating emotional intelligence into advising and curricular design is essential. This can include explicit learning objectives tied to interpersonal competencies, rubrics that assess communication and teamwork in online assignments, reflective activities that promote self-awareness, and scenarios that practice conflict resolution in virtual settings. These strategies help students translate online learning experiences into employability evidence that resonates with hiring managers.

As online learning becomes a standard option across higher education, educators should intentionally teach and evaluate the soft skills that complement technical knowledge. Doing so benefits students—and the employers who will hire them—by producing graduates who are not only technically competent but also emotionally resilient, collaborative, and professionally prepared.

In the spirit of collaboration and emotional intelligence, I remain grateful for Goleman’s work. Its relevance to online education and workforce readiness has only grown.

About the author: Ranee Boyd Tomlin, Ph.D., is a student advisor for the 100-percent online campus of a public university.