Examining the Role of Empathy in Supporting Students in Technological Universities

Students attending higher education institutes are experiencing a myriad of challenges including academic and personal. There is a need to extend educators’ understanding of empathy and its pertinence in higher education by considering its significance. This discussion examines the role of empathy in supporting students within Ireland’s Technological Universities (TUs), as literature fails to address the knowledge in this area. Literature conveys that empathy is widely recognised as a key value in higher education, but little attention has been given to its importance in the context of the relatively newly established TUs. Due to the inherent challenge of navigating through their infancy in creating new strategies, it is timely that TUs consider embedded empathy into these institutional policies. Case studies on the South East Technological University (SETU) and Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) are presented to depict how empathy can support student wellbeing and retention. These case studies offer appropriate insight into how empathy is currently being operationalised in TU development, providing evidence that can potentially inform policy and practice across the sector. However, barriers such as organisational change and evolving institutional identities present significant challenges in doing so. The study concludes that empathy must be embedded into every practice in TUs rather than imposed through individual modules. Finally, the discussion ends with a call for further research to be conducted in this area, allowing the student’s voice to be heard through their time in TUs by the suggestion of a longitudinal study. This is particularly significant as the first full cohorts of TU students move through and complete their studies within these newly established institutions.