The role of empathy in choosing majors

Abstract

In this research, the role empathy plays in women's choice of major is investigated with particular emphasis on engineering disciplines. We began by formulating a survey instrument that measured the level of empathy of the survey participant, the perceived level of empathy of various academic disciplines, the likelihood of majoring in a discipline, and the perception of empathy among the faculty and fellow students within their current major, along with demographic information. To measure the level of empathy of an individual, a modified form of the Empathizing/Systematizing Quotient (EQ-SQ) developed by Simon Baron-Cohen was used. The survey produced 517 valid responses. Of those responses, 46% were female. In addition, 257 were STEM majors with 231 of those being engineering majors. Of the engineering majors, 69 were female. Results from this survey indicate that 1) women are more empathetic than men, 2) students in engineering and other STEM majors are less empathetic than those in non-STEM majors, 3) engineering disciplines are perceived as less empathetic than other majors, and 4) empathy is negatively correlated with choosing engineering as a major. Following these quantitative results, a qualitative focus group study was developed to delve deeper into some of the reasons behind the quantitative results. The focus groups were women in STEM (non-engineering) disciplines, women in engineering disciplines, and women in non-STEM disciplines. These studies are ongoing but to date, we have had three engineering women and two non-STEM women participate in the study. Using thematic analysis, an early result emerging from this part of the study is the role that fathers and math teachers play in the choices women make to study engineering.

Publication Title

ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings

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