The Profile and Empathy Level of Helping Professionals

This study looked into the  demographic profile and empathy level of helping professionals enrolled at West Visayas State University, College of Education, Graduate School taking up Master of Education (M.Ed.) major in Guidance and Counseling and Doctor of Philosophy in Education(Ph.D. in Ed.) major in Psychology and Guidance. Results showed that the participants taking graduate education in the field of teacher education, psychology, guidance and counseling were generally female, younger and are actively teaching. Majority were beginners in the Ph.D. program. Except for the category on sex where females had significantly higher empathy level than males, all the participants had an average level of empathy. However, looking at their individual mean scores, it appeared that the older respondents, married, are teaching and are finishing their degrees had higher mean. These results seem to imply that the females, those with more experience, married, in the field of teaching, and have more training had higher levels of empathy.

Keywords: empathy, helping professionals, demographic profile, helping professions