Habilidades sociales y rendimiento académico en estudiantes de la Carrera de odontología de la Universidad de Cuenca, 2023

Abstract

Social skills play a fundamental role in individual development by facilitating the appropriate expression of feelings, attitudes, desires, opinions, and rights in various contexts. The impact of these skills on academic performance has been the subject of research in various disciplines; however, there has been a notable lack of specific attention in academic literature regarding the university population, especially in healthcare professions such as dentistry. The general objective of this research was to determine the relationship between social skills and academic performance among fourth and sixth-semester Dentistry students at the University of Cuenca. To achieve this, a quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional, and correlational study was conducted with 73 participants. Data were collected using the Social Skills Scale (SSS) and the overall grade point average of students during the academic period from March to August 2023. Results were analyzed using JASP 0.17.1.0 software, employing the non-parametric Spearman's rho test. Findings indicated a tendency toward a low level of social skills, while academic performance ranged from good to very good. Furthermore, no statistically significant correlation was observed between these variables. It is concluded that social skills do not relate to the academic performance of the students in this study.