Empathy as a factor of professional success of future technical specialists

In the modern world, the problem of interpersonal interaction and building effective relationships is a key one for both the educational and professional fields. Empathy is a key factor in building relationships, therefore, the development of this quality among students, including technical specialties, is relevant at the moment. However, empathy is rarely studied among technical specialists, although scientists confirm the importance of the presence and development of this quality among representatives of engineering and other technical professions for interaction with colleagues and customers, as well as for creating a product that meets user requirements. In our study, we set the following goal: to determine the level of empathy among future specialists studying in various technical specialties, in order to understand and justify the need to develop empathy and to take this factor into account when building the educational process. Two methods were used to conduct the study: the method of diagnosing the level of empathic abilities of V.V. Boyko for graduate students and the scale of emotional response of A. Mehrabyan and N. Epstein for undergraduate students. As a result of the study, we found that the average level of empathy prevails among undergraduate students, and empathy is better developed among male students. The second largest group includes undergraduate students with a low level of empathy. The majority of students studying for a master’s degree have a low or very low level of empathy, no one has a high level of empathy, while female students have better developed empathy. If we compare the level of empathy between undergraduate and graduate students, then graduate students have a lower level of empathy. These results suggest the need for work to develop students’ skills such as empathy and conduct further research in this area.