You can’t teach ‘affective’ empathy from a case study

Business schools are under growing pressure to prepare graduates who can act responsibly in a world shaped by deep social inequality and urgent environmental challenges. 

However, many educators still rely on learning strategies that prioritise cognitive understanding of social problems over emotional engagement. Students typically learn about social problems through cases, lectures and simulations, which keep human experience at a distance. 

Cognitive empathy, or the understanding of what someone is going through, can be taught through cases and simulations. Affective empathy, which is the emotional connection that makes a problem feel personally relevant, cannot. Without it, students struggle to connect deeply to social problems and to act on them.

Centring lived experience of social disadvantage

Our study explored how students’ understanding of social responsibility shifts when they interact with people who have lived experience of social disadvantage. We termed this pedagogy “lived experience values-based experiential learning”. Using a social impact hackathon as the learning context, students worked collaboratively to develop business ideas for marginalised communities while learning from individuals with direct lived experience of homelessness to help shape their ideas.

Before participating in the hackathon, many students told us they had limited understanding of homelessness and social disadvantage. Their knowledge was mainly shaped by media or abstract learnings from previous education.

Engaging directly with people with lived experience of homelessness through a facilitated panel became a critical intervention in the learning process. Students told us that they felt their biases and assumptions were challenged. They also learned more deeply about the complex interplay of structural and personal factors that shape disadvantage, realising that homelessness was typically not an individual’s choice. 

Teaching affective empathy

Social problems, previously understood as abstract or distant, suddenly became very real. Students described how they were confronted with emotional responses such as discomfort, reflection and a sense of human connection. This affective empathy changed how students went about designing solutions in the hackathon. They ultimately took a deeper, human-centred perspective to truly understand social problems before attempting to design effective solutions. 

Affective empathy was also critical for catalysing change in students’ behaviour. Although we might train students to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills to effectively analyse ethical dilemmas or sustainability challenges, we typically don’t give them the tools to address them. After participating in the hackathon, students felt confident to take action to address social problems in their communities, had stronger intentions to volunteer more, and were more committed to putting social issues at the forefront of their future studies and careers.

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By creating a learning environment that fostered affective empathy we cognitively and emotionally shifted how students learned about and acted on social problems. But there are risks and challenges in bringing individuals with lived experience of social disadvantage into the classroom. Below are strategies for educators to safely and ethically doing so.

Partner with specialist organisations. We partnered with a local social enterprise with expertise in bringing lived experience speakers into the classroom. These organisations understand how to engage their communities safely and respectfully. They can help you navigate ethical considerations such as ensuring that lived experience participants are fairly compensated for their time and that there is a peer support worker available to manage difficult situations.

Develop students’ capabilities. Educators should brief students in advance about emotionally challenging content so they can engage reflectively in the learning experience rather than reactively. Debrief with students afterwards with a structured reflection. Take breaks as needed. This is essential for converting emotional experiences into practical learning and avoiding unnecessary emotional distress.

Reframe what counts as expertise or valuable knowledge. Be explicit with students that lived experience is a legitimate and valuable form of knowledge, not a supplement to “real”, expert knowledge from academics. This means introducing lived experience speakers with the same gravitas you would afford an industry executive guest speaker: acknowledge their expertise and frame their contribution as essential to learning, rather than illustrative of it.

Invest in professional development and upskilling. Educators in business schools typically don’t engage individuals with direct experience of social disadvantage in their teaching and learning. This is a critical opportunity for professional development and upskilling. Share knowledge and experiences with your colleagues through conferences, teaching forums and communities of practice. By building a community of educators committed to this approach, we strengthen both the pedagogy and the ethical scaffolding around it.

Kathy Walsh is professor of finance and associate dean (research) and Mihajla Gavin is senior lecturer, both at University of Technology Sydney Business School.

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Teaching social responsibility through empathy: Integrating lived experiences of the socially disadvantaged in management education