Yet we are educating people - not robots. To work in a team is empathy essential. Without empathy It does not work. What to do with the "big" professional, who can not communicate with anyone.

A quick exploration of the topic informs that a lack of empathy is a characteristic of several personality disorders (e.g. narcissistic personality disorder, psychopathy) and autism. Empathy is considered a motivating factor for unselfish, prosocial behavior, whereas a lack of empathy is related to antisocial behavior. Some business and management literature (Patnaik, 2009; Miyashiro, 2011) argues the value of empathy for performance and succes of organizations. Empathy was the strongest predictor of ethical leadership behavior out of 22 competencies in the management model of the Management Research Group, and empathy was one of the three strongest predictors of senior executive effectiveness. So, if we consider higher education students as our future leadership imho best to waste some time on empathy. Besides, how can you teach effectively without establishing some sort of relationship with students, and how can you do that without empathy?

The first teacher of a growing child are the parents & the next in line are the teachers right from montessary to higher levels. In most of the developing countries, parents may not be in a position to exactly guide their kids & it is here that the teacher has to step in. Modern world is changing too fast & the teachers are one of the best guides to the one going for higher education.

Higher education is knowledge and experience, whether in labs.fields,practical assignments,internships, where a student has to learn & climb through the grape wine of future success.Students always falter & it's here that the teachers has to chip in. Without empathy, they could be confused, forlorn, and could fall prey to misinformations.

As Gerard C Mass has rightly said, they are the leaders of tomorrow & with out empathy & proper guidance how would the scenario look if these confused Generation Next will be saddled with the responsibility of teaching/guiding/administrating our children and their children, in turn?

Empathy does play an important role in shaping their future careers, & is very much an essential part of higher education.  

Yet we are educating people - not robots. To work in a team is empathy essential. Without empathy It does not work. What to do with the "big" professional, who can not communicate with anyone.

I often remember the voice of my great masters, as they thought me in class the basics of my current medical practice. 

As I teach Medicine, I need to have total empathy with my students, to produce a good learning team. This is the best way to get results.

I hope, that someday they might remember my voice, as they practice, offering advice to their practical problems. 

Quite often, in my dialogues with students, as they confirm an important fact related to the human body, I ask them "please promise me never to forget that, as you practice Medicine". This, to my view resumes the necessary empathy that should be present in the teaching-learning process.

First of all apologies for replying so late. Quarterly exams  were away from RG.

I am overwhelmed with the uplifting feedback provided by you. For me, empathy is the highest value that we can teach because without it, any concept remains just a concept. So... but my colleagues tell me I'm crazy I will continue working from empathy with my students.

Thank you very much for all answers!