A Model of Empathy in Engineering as a Core Skill, Practice Orientation, and Professional Way of Being

TLDR

Engineers are increasingly expected to engage empathically with diverse stakeholders, yet education lacks a cohesive concept and language for applying empathy in engineering. This study investigates current conceptions of empathy in engineering, compares them to social work’s definition, and explores lessons for engineering education. Through a four‑year interdisciplinary dialogue between engineering and social work educators, the authors synthesized literature, identified productive tensions, and devised a context‑appropriate empathy model. The authors propose a model of empathy in engineering as a teachable skill, a practice orientation, and a professional identity, incorporating mode switching and commitment to values pluralism.

Abstract

Background Engineers are increasingly being asked to empathically engage with a broad range of stakeholders. Current efforts to educate empathic engineers, however, are hindered by the lack of a conceptually cohesive understanding of, and language for, applying empathy to engineering. Prior studies have suggested that research informed by long-standing traditions in other fields may provide the rigor, conceptual clarity, and expertise necessary to theoretically ground the education and practice of empathy in technical disciplines. Purpose This study examined three research questions: What are current understandings of empathy in engineering and engineering education? How do these understandings compare with conceptions of empathy in social work, a professional discipline that defines empathy as a core skill and orientation of its practitioners? What can engineering educators learn from social work to inform the education of empathic engineers? Scope/Method This article presents the findings from a sustained, four-year, interdisciplinary dialogue between engineering education and social work education researchers. This effort included an examination of productive tensions and similarities between the two fields, a critical synthesis of the literature on empathy in each discipline, and the development of a context-appropriate model for empathy in engineering. Conclusions We propose a model of empathy in engineering as a teachable and learnable skill, a practice orientation, and a professional way of being. Expanding conceptions of empathy in social work, this model additionally emphasizes mode switching and a commitment to values pluralism.