Comparison of communication and empathy skills in university students studying in engineering, psychology and theatre departments

The aim of this research is to compare empathic tendency and communication skills of the students in three different faculties of state and three different universities in the province of Istanbul. The population of the research was based on students from theater, psychology and engineering departments of these three universities in İstanbul. Research group involved; 101 psychology, 70 theater and 99 engineering students, 139 female and 131 male, a total of 270 students. In this study, a causal-comparative method was used as a model. The research was conducted by distributing the questionnaire in the classrooms. The Empathy Scale and The Communication Skills Scale were used in the research. Analysis of the data obtained in the study was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program. Independent t tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation were used for the research analysis. In this study, important findings were noted about the difference between the departments in terms of empathy and communication skills. As a result of research, empathy and communication skills were significantly different according to the sex of the students. When the differences between the departments were examined; psychology students were better than theater and engineering students in empathy and communication skills and theater students were better than engineering students. Male students were found to be better than girls in terms of cognitive empathy, and girls were better than boys about empathic interest and sympathy. Female students were found to have higher levels of communication skills in terms of their ability to adapt, their ability to manage the conversation and their interest in the conversation. In the results of the study, in the light of the findings, suggestions were given for future studies.