Researchers asked 189 university and college teachers and staff about bullying at work. These people worked in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Bullying means treating someone badly on purpose to hurt them. At some colleges and universities, bullying rates reached 68%, or nearly seven in ten people.
People described bullying by other workers and their bosses. Common problems included too much work, people not sharing important information, and too little time to finish tasks. Teachers and staff in less senior jobs faced more bullying from other workers. Black workers, Indigenous workers, and other workers of color also faced bullying more often.
Thirty percent of the people in the study said students pushed them to give better grades. Students used threats, harmful complaints, and bad online reviews. People reported pressure from students more often than bullying from other workers. Senior teachers reported grade bullying more often than younger teachers, and women and teachers from minority groups also faced particular problems.
This pressure can hurt teachers' mental health and make them less happy at work. It can also reduce how much work they do. Bullying damages relationships between teachers and students and can make education worse. It can also hurt a university's good name.
