# Empathy levels among health sciences professors in Latin America: distribution, classification and gender differences

## TL;DR

This study examines empathy levels among health sciences professors in Latin America and finds moderate empathy with small gender differences.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into empathy levels and gender differences among health sciences professors in Latin America.

## Key findings

- More than half of the professors showed medium to very low empathy levels.
- Women scored slightly higher in Perspective Taking and overall empathy.
- Measurement invariance by gender was supported, indicating consistent empathy measurement.

## Abstract

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.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-025-08224-1.