Instructor and Student Perceptions of Teacher Empathy in Higher Education

Empathy is recognized as the ability to relate emotionally to an experience or another person's emotions. Evidence supports the notion that students learn better and have greater positive perceptions when instructors display empathetic values and seek more meaningful relationships with their students. The purpose of this study was to assess instructor self-reported empathy and students' perceptions of instructor empathy, using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) and a newly developed Instructor Empathy Practices questionnaire (IEP7), among a convenience sample from a public university. This convergent mixed-methods study consisted of a cross-sectional survey sent to both students and instructors and focus groups conducted with students. A total of 168 students and 68 faculty members completed the survey and 19 students participated in the focus groups. Contextual factors such as race (p = 0.036), classification (p = 0.003) and GPA (p = 0.028) played significant roles in student empathy scores. Among instructors, only total student enrollment (p = 0.028) had an association with teacher empathy. Focus groups revealed themes related to recognizing empathy including understanding its definition, instructional techniques, perception in relation to class motivation, and importance. This study was the first to employ a convergent study design to assess and better characterize empathy from both instructors' and students' perspectives.