Impressions and Expressions of Compassion in the University Workplace: A Case Study

Abstract

Calls for more compassionate universities have been gaining strength. The Covid-19 pandemic has magnified the detrimental effects of the marketisation and corporatisation of higher education in the UK and the sector finds itself in a desperate need for change because its current systems and structures are causing suffering. Based on a case study of a post-1992 university, this research explores the meaning attached by academics to the notion of workplace compassion (impressions), identifies the type of behaviour and practices associated with workplace compassion (expressions) and suggests ways of implementing them in a university context.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of twenty-two academics in a post-1992 university in the North-West of England where compassion had been introduced and promoted as an aspirational value. The interviews sought to explore the academics’ perceptions of compassion as the university’s aspirational value and its expressions in a university setting, and to recognise the benefits, challenges, controversies and tensions that its presence or absence creates for UK academics in a university setting.
Overall, the research has revealed significant divergence in the views of academics on impressions and expressions of compassion in the context of a university. It is considered to be fundamental to the professional identity of academics because it is inextricably linked to their student-facing role and to academic collegiality. The research has disclosed that compassion is both beneficial and detrimental to academics. It creates tensions, challenges and controversies due to complex power relations with students as consumers and to the conflict between the commercial nature of modern universities and academics’ professional values. The issue of hierarchy associated with authoritarianism further adds to the complexity of expressing compassion in a university setting. Managers’ attempts to employ what is perceived as false or artificial compassion trigger strong negative emotions and link these expressions to deception, manipulation and even violence.
This study makes a significant contribution to the literature on compassion and workplace compassion in three key areas: (i), the research context; (ii) the critical approach; and (iii) most significantly, in terms of the research findings. In addition, the empirical research contributes to practice by suggesting ways of implementing compassion in a university context.