How Physics Faculty Show Empathy: Pathways and Practices

The ability to understand and connect with students is integral to effective teaching and, critically, retention of students at risk of marginalization or alienation. We interviewed 19 physics faculty to explore how they work to understand students, e.g. how they develop empathy and take compassionate action. We develop a conceptual model for how empathy develops through two pathways—cognitive and affective empathy—and identify key mediators and moderators that enable or impede this development. In this talk I provide examples of empathy in practice, addressing three questions : 1) How do faculty define and apply empathy in academic settings? 2) What motivates (in)actions in faculty-student, faculty-mentee, and faculty-faculty dynamics? 3) How do reflective witnessing and shared experiences influence empathy's development? We find that definitions of empathy vary, often seen as "easy" or "hard" depending on faculty identity, and that, while faculty value caring for students, their actions differ significantly. For example, some faculty heavily rely on departmental policies while others take a justice based approach and advocate for student needs beyond policy. Our work enhances our understanding of how empathy is expressed among physics faculty and how it can inspire compassionate action.