What is more important in the workforce emotional intelligence or academic intelligence?

Both :)
Academic intelligence may land you a job, but emotional intelligence will help you keep the job and grow your career. As somebody who has hired and managed hundreds of employees over the years, I can tell you that emotional intelligence quickly becomes an important factor when you need to collaborate with others, make important decisions, and listen to feedback. Especially for technical jobs, many people have the same skill sets on paper, but emotional intelligence (maturity) is the key differentiator between somebody who just does their job, and somebody who learns, grows, and advances in their career. These are the things they don't teach you in school. I encourage you to be mindful, self-aware, and practice listening as a key skill. You will set yourself apart from others and gain respect from your peers. Good luck!

All jobs require both! There are literally thousands of research studies supporting both of these attributes across many different occupations.

Hi Rachel,

A balance of academic intelligence and emotional intelligence would be ideal. Keep in mind that you can always learn new skills by asking questions and studying material, like you do in school, and this should be constant, even after getting a job. Emotional intelligence would be more about self-awareness and recognizing your emotions as well as the emotions of others. This can't be changed as much or as quickly as gaining expertise in an area. In the workplace, you will deal with many types of people that you don't necessarily get to choose, so empathy, the ability to manage different emotiona and anticipating emotions is a skill that's fairly priceless.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE! Google the topic and you will find a plethora of articles about this topic. It's a great question to have so you can focus on "employability skills" for entering the workplace. You are definitely asking the right question to prepare yourself for your career! Good for you!!!!