The Toxic Infestation of Bullying and Harassment in Higher Education
Bullying and harassment is hugely problematic in any place of work or learning. It causes actual and immediate harm, it creates trauma, and it sustains a culture where a limited few are allowed to survive, let alone thrive.
We know that bullying and harassment happens in University settings. This can occur in a number of ways. All of which are troubling. When examples come to light, which is rare, these examples are often not dealt with well.
The extent of the bullying and harassment in higher education is so problematic that there is even a blog dedicated to shedding light on instances where it does make the light of day.
At Imperial College London, we are currently in the middle of a bullying scandal. The President and the CFO have admitted to bullying.
Many of us working in the equality, diversity and inclusion spaces know of more cases where bullying and harassment has occurred and it has not been handled well. The more I talk about oppression and systems of power excluding people, the more I hear the first hand trauma from victims.
My DMs are popping, so to speak. While I am reasonably comfortable listening to stories, and each DM and engagement does flavour my thoughts and ideas. I can’t pretend that I do not find it triggering (I was bullied badly as a kid, and there is some other mess closer to the issue I am writing about here). I also can’t pretend that it isn’t exhausting.
My exhaustion is compounded by the continued centring from seniors that the messages from seniors of “it’s all ok, we have a robust disciplinary process”, “this discussion creates a dialogue” or “it’s ok, we now have the opportunity to listen to the bully explain themselves”.
Fundamentally this is flawed.
Why are we centring our discussions to listen to those who have gotten away with it?
You could ask, how could we handle this well? What could leaders of our community do?
Simples — do not bully or harass.
If you do, step aside.
If you really want to be an active bystander — use your privilege to pressure the bullies and harassers to step aside.
The fact that people, especially senior leaders, are seen to get away with this is doubly problematic.
Firstly, seeing people get away with bullying, where individuals maintain a platform, salary, and opportunities are more — a career with much ahead of it. This is hugely problematic, especially for those who have been actively (or passively) pushed out and sidelined, or are presently being bullied, harassed or exploited by others.
Secondly, we have ‘supportive’ colleagues who centre the story on keeping the bullies in power and at the top. We have collusion to maintain an environment where bullying is one of the only ways to survive/thrive. In most institutions this is not the case, but if you leave bullies at the top — then you risk perpetuating a vicious and damaging cycle. If this happens, it is perhaps the very definition of a toxic workplace.
I’m fed up and frustrated with people making excuses here. It’s just not good enough.
p.s. Please don’t get me started on NDAs and hush clauses, it’s not like we are even pretending that we are listening to both sides. If you want to see how NDAs are problematic, please take a read of the 1752 Group’s campaign to end them in cases with sexual misconduct. The issues extend to more general cases of bullying and harassment too.
Dr Ben Britton is a presently a Reader at Imperial College London, for 12 more days.
Encouraging you to ‘clap’ for this story is strange. Clapping will likely increase the profile of the article on this social network, and it of course does not represent any endorsement of bullying & harassment in academia.
