Exploring how the emotional intelligence-social capital nexus in academics impacts third stream income: a case study of University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Abstract

South African universities have been facing financial challenges brought about by the legacy of the apartheid education system. The higher education system is looking for solutions to manage the financial sustainability of institutions. The aim of the study was to determine whether the emotional intelligence and social capital nexus in academics has an impact on attitudes towards third stream income at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). Third stream income draws on commercial practice to raise income through consultancy, commercialisation of research, philanthropy and the creation of public private partnerships. A challenge facing institutions is getting academics to participate in third stream income because they are consumed with academic responsibilities of teaching, learning and research. Literature review was conducted, which included the development of a mini case study of UKZN based on the 2017- 2021 strategic plan and factors that impacted third stream income generation at the university. The thesis used the four-dimensional theory of emotional intelligence model of Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee (Goleman et al., 2002:47) and the three-dimensional model of social capital (Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998). This thesis used a sequential exploratory mixed-methods case study methodology. The qualitative part of the study comprised 13 interviews and two focus group interviews. The quantitative part of the study was based on 100 respondents who participated in an online questionnaire. The qualitative data analysis used a thematic analysis, and the quantitative data analysis was conducted using SPSS Statistics 26.0 software. The study found a strong relationship between the emotional intelligence – social capital nexus and attitudes towards third stream income. The study recommends the construction of a coaching framework to develop the participation of academics at UKZN in third stream income. Further research is required on the impact of how emotional intelligence can be used to grow social capital in academia. These studies may look at what the motivators are for academics to participate in third stream income generation and how to promote academic benevolence to promote increased social capital to support third stream income generation.