How empathy falls short in student affairs — and what to do about it

Today's student affairs practice perpetuates the belief that empathy — our ability to understand and share the feelings of others — is the bedrock for positive interpersonal and institutional engagement with colleagues and the broader community. We insist on “walking in another's shoes,” we teach ourselves to listen without judgment, and we approach conflict resolution through an emotional framework. Most of the time it works meaningfully, but other times empathy fails us. It fails when it constricts rather than expands understanding, when it prioritizes similarity at the expense of justice, and when it paradoxically widens the exact divides that we hope to heal.