Executive Function Skills and Their Effect on the Academic Life of Students

Abstract

Executive function skills are skills that assist individuals in achieving their objectives. They are relevant not only to academic settings, but are also of import in other areas of life. As a result of their importance, they have become the focus of many studies. Executive function skills are essential in order to be successful in academia, as well as in the professional development of the individual. From an organizational point of view, these skills are regarded to be indispensable in increasing the effectiveness of human resources. The objective of this research is the investigation of student executive function skills and the study of their impact on their academic life. The study sample consists of 165 students at the Mediterranean University of Albania. The descriptive method and quantitative research will be used in this study. The research instrument is the questionnaire, which was distributed online. The testing of the hypotheses is conducted through the use of a 95% confidence interval. The study concluded that executive function skills have a positive impact on the academic achievement of students. The executive function skills most drawn upon by students are: response inhibition, metacognition and time management. Whereas, the executive function skills that students need to further boost are: stress tolerance, task initiation and emotional control.