Bullying Awareness and Prevention in Higher Education

Dr. Mahmoudi introduces this section.

Professor Oldroyd tells of the harassment he received because of being gay, despite his tremendous success as an academician, and the impact on his mental health and feelings of self-worth.

Dr. Vogelaar tells her story of bullying and harassment, including sexual harassment, as a young woman in academia. This treatment only increased the more she spoke up, especially in defense of others receiving similar treatment, resulting in the trauma of losing her academic standing and opportunity to continue her career as a passionate researcher.

An anonymous professor's story is told, in which they are subjected to various types of bullying and harassment by their supervisor, who attempts to steal their intellectual property when they were a postdoc and later a junior faculty member. The story also covers the target's experiences reporting academic bullying to his institution and the outcomes.

Dr. Angel shares her experience being micromanaged in a toxic academic environment and being put on an unannounced, long-term probation period. She also shares her lessons learned through her efforts to obtain help from various internal and external resources.

Dr. Meyers tells of the bullying, threats, and mobbing she was subjected to as a result of her pushing back on unreasonable requests from her department chair. She also shares the impact of the bullying and harassment on her mental and physical health, including insomnia, panic attacks, and worsening of her diabetes.

Dr. Olivieri tells her story as a whistleblower, in which she raised concerns over the safety and efficacy of a drug in clinical trials. As a result, she was the target of bullying and mobbing from various sectors over a prolonged period.

Dr. Mahmoudi shares the basics of academic bullying: what it is, the five basic categories of bullying behavior, and how it affects targets of bullying. Dr. Mahmoudi also differentiates bullying from behaviors that, though they may be unpleasant, do not constitute bullying.

Dr. Mahmoudi introduces this section.

Professor Oldroyd and Drs. Vogelaar & Hugentobler share their thoughts on why bullying exists in academia.

Dr. Keashly shares her thoughts on why bullying exists in academia.

Dr. Keashly describes research into academic bullying.

Dr. Mahmoudi provides an overview of appropriate responses as a target of academic bullying and suggests ten specific actions.

Dr. Vogelaar shares her advice and emphasizes the importance of establishing community and deeply considering the constraints in your life in deciding how hard to push back.

Professor Oldroyd shares his advice and emphasizes the importance of educating yourself on what harassment is and how it looks, and knowing that not all institutions foster a culture of bullying.

Dr. Hugentobler shares her advice and emphasizes the importance of documenting your case and being thoughtful in deciding to whom you speak.

Dr. Olivieri shares her advice and emphasizes the impact that whistleblowing will likely have on your career and the importance of seeking advice from whistleblowing organizations.

Dr. Keashly shares her advice and emphasizes thinking carefully how to confront the bully and the importance of documenting the bullying.

Dr. Angel shares her advice and emphasizes the importance of seeking support and engaging in conversations about your bullying experience.

Dr. Mahmoudi shares his advice for witnesses of academic bullying, and urges them to act according to a set of recommendations and specific do's and don't's.

Dr. Keashly talks about the real impact bystanders can make when bullying occurs, practical tips for what to do in the moment, and the power of listening.

Professor Oldroyd discusses how isolating and disempowering it feels when witnesses ignore instances of bullying, and the importance to both the target and the organization of speaking up.

Dr. Mahmoudi introduces the section.

Dr. Keashly talks about academic institutions' responsibilities, and the importance of surveys and policies that address bullying.

Dr. Keashly talks about what faculty can do to stop academic bullying, and how the academic culture of debate, critique, criticism, and dissent in fact should empower faculty to actively self-regulate to reduce bullying and harassment.

1. Scenario 1
   A successful junior faculty member claims a senior colleague is bad-mouthing him and attempting to sabotage his proposals in an attempt to undermine his career.

2. Scenario 2
   A researcher says their former principal investigator removed them as first author on a paper despite an earlier promise.

3. Scenario 3
   A student feels her principal investigator doesn't give her the career opportunities she gives to other lab members.

4. Scenario 4
   A doctoral student is concerned how his supervisor criticizes his work in public forums and has been demeaning.

5. Scenario 5
   A principal investigator describes the rigors with which she runs her lab in order for her lab members to be successful.

6. Scenario 6
   A principal investigator describes the treatment he is receiving from a trainee after informing her she wasn't ready to publish a paper.

Thank you for participating in this course. Here, Dr. Morteza Mahmoudi shares his final thoughts.