Search Committee Process

[Langue_doc]

Empathy is yet another buzzword. See the thread on "Administrative Calls for Empathy and Student Assessment". https://thefora.org/index.php?topic=2513.0 While assessment is objective, empathy is decidedly subjective. How would you decide whether or not a candidate is empathetic?

[Vid]

Empathy in a general sense not only for the Search Committee.

Diversity and Inclusion strategies should start from elementary school engaging kids with cultural diversity, building empathy, etc. NSF recently funded several empathy-driven education projects for K-12-- a good start. 

[Ruralguy]

I agree that you can't really effectively measure empathy in candidates, but it is something you can at least see in the breach once someone is on the job. We all have colleagues that aren't very good at seeing things from another perspective.

[mleok]

I agree that you can't really effectively measure empathy in candidates, but it is something you can at least see in the breach once someone is on the job. We all have colleagues that aren't very good at seeing things from another perspective.

Yes, the question is whether that is a valid reason for voting against tenure...

[Ruralguy]

Probably not in most cases unless it's clearly related to poor teaching or service. I suppose it could be related to research, but it would be less likely.

[Vkw10]

I agree that you can't really effectively measure empathy in candidates, but it is something you can at least see in the breach once someone is on the job. We all have colleagues that aren't very good at seeing things from another perspective.

For my current position, the search committee handed me a cartoon of three people with speech bubbles asking for a specific schedule, each with a very brief reason why they needed that schedule, and asked me to discuss my response to each. I'm fairly sure they were attempting to assess empathy as well as how I would balance needs of individuals against needs of department.

[pgher]

I agree that you can't really effectively measure empathy in candidates, but it is something you can at least see in the breach once someone is on the job. We all have colleagues that aren't very good at seeing things from another perspective.

For my current position, the search committee handed me a cartoon of three people with speech bubbles asking for a specific schedule, each with a very brief reason why they needed that schedule, and asked me to discuss my response to each. I'm fairly sure they were attempting to assess empathy as well as how I would balance needs of individuals against needs of department.

I have to say, that's brilliant! I may steal that methodology for the search committee I'm on right now.

[mamselle]

There have been testing strategies for assessing the capacity for empathy since at least the 1970s.

I proofread an M.A. thesis for my mom (who typed theses and dissertations as a freelance sideline while we were kids) on the possible correlations between birth position and empathy in adult subjects, maybe even while I was in Jr. Hi. school (she paid a nickel a page, good money in those days...), so that would have been the late '60s.

I looked it up in ProQuest not too long ago and found the online copy. Yep, that was her typewriter, alright...and I still liked the results, which ranked eldest children (like myself, ahem) higher.

Humility wasn't tested...

M.

[Ruralguy]

My eldest brother couldn't have possibly been part of this study.

[mamselle]

My eldest brother couldn't have possibly been part of this study.

Ha!

Or, maybe,

Ouch, sorry!

Here it is:

   https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_olink/r/1501/10?p10_etd_subid=126911&clear=10

M.