Title: Empathy in Physics Classrooms and other Academic Spaces

Abstract: This talk explores the role of empathy — the ability to understand and share feelings, thoughts, and experiences of another — in physics classrooms and other academic spaces. Specifically, we ask: 1) how do faculty conceptualize empathy and its place in the classroom; 2) how do faculty develop empathetic understanding for students; and 3) how and why do faculty intentionally share information about themselves to build this understanding. Semi-structured interviews of 19 physics faculty of varying ranks and experience reveal common themes in interactions with students. From these we develop a theoretical model that includes both cognitive empathy—recognizing and understanding another person’s perspective—and emotional/affective empathy —experiencing and responding to another person’s emotions. The model reveals key mediators that lead one from noticing to empathy to action and moderators that influence the strength of this development. We identify a new mediator for cognitive empathy, Reflective Witnessing, in which faculty reflect not only on a student’s experience but their role in that experience. Different faculty approaches to empathy are also manifested in their approach to sharing information about their personal identities These are summarized in four personas that illustrate the different motivations faculty have for sharing or concealing personal information. I’ll conclude with directions for future research as well as an opinion on the need to ground student support programs in an understanding of the individual.