2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engineers are called upon to solve the complex problems plaguing society. These problems are intellectually rigorous and steeped in societal, ethical, and geographic context, requiring social competencies to balance technical expertise with interpersonal, cultural, and environmental sensitivity. Empathy, an ability to understand others, experience their feelings, and behave responsively, is an essential skill and orientation for solving these complex engineering problems and holistically serving society. However, studies suggest engineers are not learning empathy during their collegiate years [1] and collegiate engineering culture can devalue social and professional competences [2]. This lack of empathy formation in college students prompted our research team to conduct focus groups where we asked ten engineering educators “what areas of engineering formation could be enhanced by greater empathy?” Participant responses were thematically analyzed in MAXQDA. The themes that emerged revealed five areas engineering educators feel greater empathy would benefit the engineering community: using empathy for diversity, design, individualized learning, to understand students, and working with others. All participants expressed that empathy could enhance engineering formation. Within empathy for diversity, subthemes arose related to inclusion and cultural awareness. Responses related to empathy for individualized learning fell into two areas: meeting students where they are and curricular modifications. Participants discussed empathy for understanding students as either peer to peer empathy or professor to student empathy. For responses relating to working with others, participants spoke of the need for empathy in collaboration and communicating ideas. These findings provide insight into how educators can begin to incorporate empathy into their curriculum, culture, and profession.

CITATIONS:
[1] J. L. Hess, J. Strobel, R. (Celia) Pan, & C. A. Wachter Morris, “Insights from industry: a quantitative analysis of engineers’ perceptions of empathy and care within their practice,” Eur. J. Eng. Educ., vol. 42, no. 6, pp. 1128–1153, Nov. 2017
[2] E. A. Cech, “Culture of Disengagement in Engineering Education?,” Sci. Technol. Hum. Values, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 42–72, Jan. 2014, doi: 10.1177/0162243913504305.