“Hey Prof, I Saw This and Thought of Our Class”: A Generation of Sociology Teachers Reflect on the Rewards and Challenges of Teaching

This study examines narratives about rewarding and difficult teaching experiences of former students from our graduate teaching program. We interviewed former students from 13 classes from 2004 to 2022 and had a 42 percent response rate. These sociology teachers work across a variety of public and private universities and community colleges and tenure track and contingent contracts. Despite varying positions in the teaching profession, they all uniformly report empathy for their students and not only a commitment to excellence in instruction but also deep commitment to students’ well-being. Their difficult experiences were routinely met with a straightforward effort to learn from mistakes and improve their teaching to benefit students. We interpret these findings in light of higher education as a “greedy institution” that needs empathetic skilled teachers. We recommend future research explore whether mid-career teachers and scholars feel mentored and supported for their dedicated teaching work.