Engineers’ perspectives on the role of empathy in engineering practice

Recent years have seen an increased recognition of the importance of empathy for successful practice within the engineering education literature. Empathy, however, is inherently a motivated phenomenon. To ensure that engineers adopt more empathic practices in their work, undergraduate and postgraduate courses need to emphasise why empathic approaches are important. In this study, guided by one central research question, What is the role of empathy in engineering practice?, 10 engineers participated in semi-structured interviews. Using thematic analysis, six core themes were generated from the data. A new conceptual model of the role of empathy in engineering practice was then constructed, drawing upon the findings of the study and existing literature. The results of this study suggest that it is vital for empathic thinking not only to be embedded into engineering curricula but also these courses foster students' understandings of why adopting empathic practices is essential for effective engineering work.