Gender differences in emotional intelligence among employees of small and medium enterprise: an empirical study

112 employees of small and medium enterprise (SME) in private sector were selected randomly for assessment of gender differences in emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence was evaluated through The Emotional Intelligence Appraisal which is designed to assess behavior demonstrative of emotional intelligence skills. The Emotional Intelligence Appraisal is a 28-item performance-based assessment of emotional intelligence in Daniel Goleman's four-factor taxonomy. The four factor competencies consist of: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. The assessment provides an overall emotional quotation (EQ) score as well as a score in each of the four emotional intelligence factors. The findings disclosed that men have higher level of emotional intelligence than women.