{"id":57813,"date":"2021-06-19T08:00:07","date_gmt":"2021-06-19T12:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=57813"},"modified":"2021-06-18T17:36:01","modified_gmt":"2021-06-18T21:36:01","slug":"why-universities-must-act-on-the-rise-of-a-new-kind-of-bullying-incivility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/why-universities-must-act-on-the-rise-of-a-new-kind-of-bullying-incivility\/","title":{"rendered":"Why universities must act on the rise of a new kind of bullying: incivility"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Incivility<\/a>\u00a0is on the rise in university culture. If you are an academic you\u2019ve likely seen or experienced instances of bullying, incivility or mobbing in department meetings, in hallways and in seminars.<\/p>\n

For our research on the\u00a0emotional labour<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0leadership in higher education<\/a>\u00a0we interviewed\u00a020 faculty deans<\/a>\u00a0from eight universities in four Australian states. What they called \u201csmart bullies<\/a>\u201d routinely targeted 80% of them, they reported.<\/p>\n

Of course, academics have been socialised to be contentious, to ask critical questions and engage in intellectual sparring. But sometimes these exchanges can become an intellectual battlefield characterised by vitriolic attacks, sarcastic innuendo and intellectual one-upmanship. Ideological convictions spill over into personal attacks, creating a fractured and toxic work environment.<\/p>\n

Challenging times for university leaders<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Public universities in Australia are challenged to develop strategies to lessen the impacts of reductions in\u00a0government funding<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0international student fee revenue<\/a>\u00a0and unforeseen events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. University leaders face tough decisions about restructuring, program rationalisation and staff redundancies to ensure the long-term viability of their institution. It is their responsibility to\u00a0engage stakeholders<\/a>\u00a0in forming strategies and ensure faculty, staff and students understand the intended outcomes.<\/p>\n

These changes and platforms for consultation have fuelled ideological clashes among academic staff and administration. Combative attacks on administrators by tenured academics aiming to reveal the shortcomings in their plans and undermine their credibility as leaders are\u00a0increasingly common<\/a>. Untenured faculty are less likely to contribute in these forums, particularly if their views don\u2019t align with dominant group perspectives.<\/p>\n

Of course, there should always be space for debate in universities. The concern is when it escalates to the point of\u00a0aggression and uncivilised conduct<\/a>. It\u2019s then an obstacle to achieving clarity and understanding of the issue and engaging staff in solutions.<\/p>\n

These exchanges can have lingering impacts on workplace culture and well-being of staff, students and administration. We see this in low morale, absenteeism, increased health issues and\u00a0faculty disengagement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What sort of behaviour are we talking about?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Typically, the aggressive behaviour isn\u2019t overt bullying. As one dean said:<\/p>\n

\u201cBullying, the aggression, or yelling, it doesn\u2019t happen much because this is a university.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are policies, workshops and procedures to deal with harassment and bullying. She went on to say it was the \u201csmart bullies\u201d she found most difficult to contend with as a leader.<\/p>\n

Bullying is\u00a0defined<\/a>\u00a0as repeated patterns of negative behaviour, by a single person or group, that results in pressure, provocation or intimidation of the victim causing psychological harm. Smart bullies are adept at working around workplace policies. Instead, they draw upon a full\u00a0arsenal of uncivilised behaviours<\/a>\u00a0such as acts of rudeness, demeaning comments and creating or spreading gossip and rumours.<\/p>\n

Smart bullies use micro politics to create allies. They infiltrate committee structures and decisions to\u00a0camouflage and insulate themselves<\/a>\u00a0as the real bully or instigator. Their behaviour is tolerated and often chalked up to expressions of academic freedom.<\/p>\n

Incivility can stand alongside bullying, but is more insidious because it occurs in day-to-day interactions. Because these types of behaviours are part of most workplaces it makes incivility difficult to categorise and create policies to prevent and combat.<\/p>\n

Incivility can stand alongside bullying, but is more insidious because it occurs in day-to-day interactions. Because these types of behaviours are part of most workplaces it makes incivility difficult to categorise and create policies to prevent and combat.<\/p>\n

While part of being a dean is dealing with management and performance issues that involve difficult conversations, deans felt ill-prepared for the intensity and impacts on their mental and emotional well-being. They mostly suffered in silence, unable to discipline subordinates for behaviour that did not technically breach codes of conduct.<\/p>\n

Deans who confront perpetrators risk sparking grievance complaints or rows over academic freedom. The alternative of appealing to provosts can appear weak and incompetent.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s near-impossible under current policies to stop or prevent incivility, but incivility is happening, the consequences are real and can have serious health and personal implications for the victims. For a sector that claims to be increasingly aware of the well-being and mental health of staff, incivility is quickly coming to the forefront of issues confronting HR researchers and departments.<\/p>\n

Author Bios:<\/strong> Lynn Bosetti is Professor in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of British Columbia and Troy Heffernan is a Lecturer in Leadership at La Trobe University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Incivility\u00a0is on the rise in university culture. If you are an academic you\u2019ve likely seen or experienced instances of bullying, incivility or mobbing in department meetings, in hallways and in seminars. For our research on the\u00a0emotional labour\u00a0of\u00a0leadership in higher education\u00a0we interviewed\u00a020 faculty deans\u00a0from eight universities in four Australian states. What they called \u201csmart bullies\u201d routinely […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":57814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[401027],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-57813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-incivility"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy universities must act on the rise of a new kind of bullying: incivility - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/why-universities-must-act-on-the-rise-of-a-new-kind-of-bullying-incivility\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why universities must act on the rise of a new kind of bullying: incivility - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Incivility\u00a0is on the rise in university culture. If you are an academic you\u2019ve likely seen or experienced instances of bullying, incivility or mobbing in department meetings, in hallways and in seminars. For our research on the\u00a0emotional labour\u00a0of\u00a0leadership in higher education\u00a0we interviewed\u00a020 faculty deans\u00a0from eight universities in four Australian states. 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