Bullying within academia: A cultural and structural analysis

Abstract

Bullying among academics, while one of the highest rates of workplace bullying, remains to be understudied as a topic, limiting our understanding of it. It is largely addressed as interpersonal conflict, as opposed to an experience that is integrated into the culture of an institution. Utilizing a System's Model perspective, we evaluated how the culture and structure of academic departments influenced bullying rates. We noted that culture and structure do have an impact on bullying rates, including how the social engagements, relationships and supports determined rates of bullying.