Exploring the alignment between Australian university graduate attributes and emotional intelligence competencies

Abstract Universities have an important role to play in developing 21st century competencies in graduates. Literature shows that Emotional Intelligence (EI) could be crucial in developing these graduate attributes. This study used an exploratory thematic analysis in which we integrate information from 40 Australian universities' websites that outline their respective vision for graduate attributes and discuss them in light of EI competencies. Our study revealed that Australian universities current graduate attributes align within eight themes: global citizenship and cultural competence, critical and creative thinking and problem‐solving, communication, ethical practice, collaboration, teamwork and leadership, lifelong learning, digital literacy and information literacy and self‐directed learning including self‐management and self‐awareness. A review of the published literature in each of these fields revealed that a well‐established alignment has been previously documented through research between each of the eight individual graduate attribute themes and EI. Therefore, we conclude that embedding discipline‐specific EI content and training in undergraduate and postgraduate courses may be an effective strategy to develop graduate attributes in students. This study was the first to examine whether developing higher education students' EI competencies would support their graduate attribute skill acquisition.