A new study from Linköping University has confirmed that engineering students are less empathetic than counterparts working in the caring professions. The findings, which have been published in the European Journal of Engineering Education, show that engineering students tend to be less capable of assuming the perspectives of others, than those studying to become doctors and nurses.
The researchers used a questionnaire to measure variables such as a respondent’s degree of imagination, their ability to assume the perspective of others and whether or not the student cared about others. In line with earlier studies, the team found that engineers had a lower degree of empathy than their peers within the healthcare sector.
