A recent study conducted across more than 22,000 university staff indicated that academic personnel in regional universities were more likely to experience workplace bullying. The study showed that 28 percent of the surveyed participants reported they were bullied at work, with 12 percent saying the situation was serious enough for them to consider reporting the incident.
Around a third of the academic staff at four regional Australian universities, or 36 percent, said they experienced being victims of workplace bullies. Nearly half of the staff, or 42 percent of the academic personnel, at a particular regional university stated that they had been bullied at work. The negative experiences ranged from intimidation, discrimination, being excluded and publicly humiliated.
Despite the rising number of incidents, not a lot of these bullied victims are speaking out. The reasons why they chose to remain silent are varied. Part of it is trying to protect their jobs, since some victims fear that reporting the bullying may cost them their work. For others, they worry about retaliation. But for some, they may lack the courage to confront the bully.
To read more about the research findings and steps on how to deal with workplace bullying, click here.
