Empathy levels among health sciences professors in Latin America: distribution, classification and gender differences
Teachers are considered potential empathetic mentors who can serve as positive role models in the development of empathy skills among students in health sciences disciplines, positively influencing their relationships with healthy or ill individuals. Objective: To estimate and classify the levels of empathy among health sciences professors in Latin America and compare their distribution by gender. Methods: This was a descriptive- analytical cross-sectional study design, involving 1,128 health sciences professors from six Latin American countries. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy – Health Professions version (JSE-HP) was administered. Descriptive statistics were applied, along with confirmatory factor analysis (using the WLSMV estimator) and analysis of variance by gender. Empathy levels were calculated based on established cut-off points. More that half of the professors showed empathy levels in the medium to very low range. Measurement invariance by gender was supported. Statistically significant but small differences were observed, with women scoring slightly higher in Perspective Taking dimension and overall empathy. Health sciences faculty in Latin America showed predominantly moderate empathy levels with small gender differences. These findings emphasize the need to strengthen empathy support in academic settings.
Authors
- Eugenia González-Díaz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0992-3229)
- Juan David Salcedos Salgado (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6813-3948)
- José Gamarra‐Moncayo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0781-3616)
- Nuvia Estrada-Méndez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2314-3015)
- Irma Andrade Valles (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8461-1033)
- Margarett Cuello-Pérez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3741-3170)
- María Guadalupe Silva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2880-5778)
- Sendy Meléndez Chávez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7378-4737)
- Claudia Toro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8433-0554)
- Luz Marina Alonso Palacio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7935-8042)
- Jesús Alonso Cabrera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2372-6678)
- Natalia Fortich Mesa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2929-0278)
- María Alicia Agudelo Giraldo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6483-1231)
- Luis Montero Saldaña (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2606-0789)
- Laura Jiménez-Sánchez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4693-8427)
- Yolima Pertuz Meza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6928-4249)
- Victor Patricio Díaz Narváez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5486-0415)
- Lesbia Rosa Tirado Amador (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2821-6762)
- Rubén Eduardo Vázquez García (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7921-4610)
- Adalberto Emilio Llinas Delgado (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0665-8180)
- Sara Huerta González (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4276-1038)
- Jorge Bilbao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7738-0740)
- Adán Alexis Acosta Martínez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6378-5739)
- J. Villamor León (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5392-5676)
Institutions
- Universidad del Norte (CO)
- Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí (PA)
- Universidad Veracruzana (MX)
- Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila (MX)
- University of Atacama (CL)
- University of Magdalena (CO)
- University of Atlántico (CO)
- Universidad Autónoma de Santa Ana (SV)
- Universidad Central del Este (DO)
- Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología (CR)
- Universidad del Sinú (CO)
- Universidad Andrés Bello (CL)
- Universidad Católica Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo (PE)
- Universidad Evangelica de El Salvador (SV)
- Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (DO)
- Corporación Universitaria Rafael Nuñez (CO)
- Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia (CO)
- Universidad Libre de Colombia (CO)
Publication Details
- Journal
- BMC Medical Education
- Published
- 2025-12-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-08224-1
- Primary Topic
- Empathy and Medical Education
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00