Investigating the Effects of Higher Education on Communication Skills Based on Comparison of College and High School Students

The aim of this investigation was scrutinizing and comparing communication skills of high school and college students. Queendom (2004) Communication Skills Test was administered to 733 students including 481 high school students (193 males, 283 females) and 252 college students (198 males, 283 females). Results suggested to efficiency, validity, and reliability of Queendom Communication Skills Test for assessing social communication skills in Iranian adult participants. College students scored higher than high school students did on the entire items of the test, but differences in subtest (except one subtest) were not statistically significant. Furthermore, females scored higher than males in both whole test and subtests. These differences in two subtests (Emotional control and Assertiveness) were not statistically significant. Findings of the present study are discussed with respect to related literature and suggestions for further research are set forth.