High grades alone don’t mean success
Mar 09, 2010
There is excitement every time primary, and secondary examinations are released. For the few who score high grades, their photos are splashed on national dailies while majority who do not make it go unnoticed.
By Dennis Obel
There is excitement every time primary, and secondary examinations are released. For the few who score high grades, their photos are splashed on national dailies while majority who do not make it go unnoticed.
This is not surprising since tradition has always been to reward ‘winners’ and
punish ‘losers’.
But are high grades a predictor of success? Do bright students perform well in their jobs? Evidence shows otherwise.
In 1973, Prof. David C. McClelland of Harvard University in his paper, Testing for competence rather than intelligence, argued that competence (underlying characteristics of an individual such as empathy, self-discipline and initiative) is the major predictor of superior job performance and success in life, not traditional academic aptitude and knowledge (IQ).
His research found that people with a high IQ often performed poorly at work. Indeed in our day-to-day interactions, bright persons tend to be argumentative and inconsiderate — behaviours that jeopardise group existence.
Of recent, these attributes have been framed into what is conventionally known as Emotional Intelligence (EQ), and includes personal and social competencies individuals require to manage themselves and others’ emotions.
Unfortunately, these attributes are never taught in schools and universities. Instead, effort is put on acquiring knowledge — something that does not increase one’s ability of getting, retaining a job and performing excellently at work.
After 19 difficult years that took me through school, I did not know how to write a report, develop a project plan, or use a computer.
Worse still when I was given a leadership position in my earlier career years, I failed to build a strong team and in the end I was fired!
My failure was a tip of the iceberg of a flawed educational system. While I was able to learn skills like report writing with time, I was devoid of what my employer called competence.
In fact, in my termination letter, my employer labelled me ‘incompetent’, a concept I did not understand at the time.
Thus although IQ may be important, EQ is indispensable. As universities churn out more graduates, it is important they possess the attributes to fit and work in a team.
What one scores in school should not be an issue, rather how they use these grades to create opportunities and contribute to society.
The writer is a postgraduate student, Univesity of Southern Queensland, Australia
There is excitement every time primary, and secondary examinations are released. For the few who score high grades, their photos are splashed on national dailies while majority who do not make it go unnoticed.
This is not surprising since tradition has always been to reward ‘winners’ and
punish ‘losers’.
But are high grades a predictor of success? Do bright students perform well in their jobs? Evidence shows otherwise.
In 1973, Prof. David C. McClelland of Harvard University in his paper, Testing for competence rather than intelligence, argued that competence (underlying characteristics of an individual such as empathy, self-discipline and initiative) is the major predictor of superior job performance and success in life, not traditional academic aptitude and knowledge (IQ).
His research found that people with a high IQ often performed poorly at work. Indeed in our day-to-day interactions, bright persons tend to be argumentative and inconsiderate — behaviours that jeopardise group existence.
Of recent, these attributes have been framed into what is conventionally known as Emotional Intelligence (EQ), and includes personal and social competencies individuals require to manage themselves and others’ emotions.
Unfortunately, these attributes are never taught in schools and universities. Instead, effort is put on acquiring knowledge — something that does not increase one’s ability of getting, retaining a job and performing excellently at work.
After 19 difficult years that took me through school, I did not know how to write a report, develop a project plan, or use a computer.
Worse still when I was given a leadership position in my earlier career years, I failed to build a strong team and in the end I was fired!
My failure was a tip of the iceberg of a flawed educational system. While I was able to learn skills like report writing with time, I was devoid of what my employer called competence.
In fact, in my termination letter, my employer labelled me ‘incompetent’, a concept I did not understand at the time.
Thus although IQ may be important, EQ is indispensable. As universities churn out more graduates, it is important they possess the attributes to fit and work in a team.
What one scores in school should not be an issue, rather how they use these grades to create opportunities and contribute to society.
The writer is a postgraduate student, Univesity of Southern Queensland, Australia