TY - JOUR

T1 - The role of empathy and empathic leadership practices in schools – a scoping review

AU - Manke, Stefanie Nava

AU - Pietsch, Marcus

AU - Freund, Philipp Alexander

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2025/6/19

Y1 - 2025/6/19

N2 - Empathy is relevant for organizational and personnel development in educational settings as it enables school leaders to build close relationships with teachers, understand their needs and motivations and develop a shared vision for the school's future. However, the term 'empathy' is used inconsistently in the literature. It is therefore crucial to clarify whether empathy is considered a personality trait or an emotional intelligence skill in the context of school leadership, and to what extent it differs from related concepts such as compassion and sympathy. The aim of this scoping review is to examine how empathy is defined, operationalised, measured, and used in the context of school leadership. Empathy has typically been defined as the ability to understand others' emotions; however, it has also been used for behaviours such as emotional support. It has most frequently been measured as an aspect of emotional intelligence. Nevertheless, despite extensive research, the relationship between empathy and emotional intelligence remains uncertain. The effectiveness of leadership has also been studied mostly in relation to emotional intelligence rather than empathy. The empirical results of substantial research in this area demonstrate the reciprocal influence between principals and teachers and underscore the importance of their relationships for leadership success. However, studies indicate that school leaders do not constitute a homogeneous group and that cultural differences influence emotional expressions. Based on the findings of this scoping review, it is strongly recommended that researchers adopt more standardised definitions and develop better measurement tools for empathy, including its relations with emotional intelligence.

AB - Empathy is relevant for organizational and personnel development in educational settings as it enables school leaders to build close relationships with teachers, understand their needs and motivations and develop a shared vision for the school's future. However, the term 'empathy' is used inconsistently in the literature. It is therefore crucial to clarify whether empathy is considered a personality trait or an emotional intelligence skill in the context of school leadership, and to what extent it differs from related concepts such as compassion and sympathy. The aim of this scoping review is to examine how empathy is defined, operationalised, measured, and used in the context of school leadership. Empathy has typically been defined as the ability to understand others' emotions; however, it has also been used for behaviours such as emotional support. It has most frequently been measured as an aspect of emotional intelligence. Nevertheless, despite extensive research, the relationship between empathy and emotional intelligence remains uncertain. The effectiveness of leadership has also been studied mostly in relation to emotional intelligence rather than empathy. The empirical results of substantial research in this area demonstrate the reciprocal influence between principals and teachers and underscore the importance of their relationships for leadership success. However, studies indicate that school leaders do not constitute a homogeneous group and that cultural differences influence emotional expressions. Based on the findings of this scoping review, it is strongly recommended that researchers adopt more standardised definitions and develop better measurement tools for empathy, including its relations with emotional intelligence.

KW - Educational science

KW - empathy

KW - Emotional intelligence

KW - educational leadership

KW - scoping review

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105008480414&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/00131911.2025.2510969

DO - 10.1080/00131911.2025.2510969

M3 - Scientific review articles

JO - Educational Review

JF - Educational Review

SN - 0013-1911

ER -