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867. Characterizing the Bully Culture

April 24, 2008

Dear Folks:
The posting below looks at the warning signs that a department is in trouble and experiencing a "bully culture". It is from Chapter 8, Characterizing the Bully Culture in the book, Faculty Incivility: The Rise of the Academic Bully Culture and What to Do About It, by Darla J. Twale and Barbara M. De= Luca. Published by Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint, 989 Market Street, San= Francisco, CA 94103-1741 [www.josseybass.com] Copyright =A9 2008 by John= Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Regards,

Rick Reis
reis@stanford.edu
UP NEXT: Conflict Management and Problem Solving as Chair

Characterizing the Bully Culture

=46or wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find= disorder and every kind of evil.
James 3:16, New Living Translation

=46aculty recognize that tenure offers relatively secure employment. Some= may presume they can do anything they please. Left unchecked, however, any= aggressive behavior not reprimanded may escalate into increasingly more= serious behaviors. With the specialization of academic disciplines and= professions and the rise of the corporate culture, faculty members may= inadvertently dismiss aggressive behaviors as typical of the times or treat= them as a trade-off for the personal autonomy they enjoy. In actuality, an= academic bully culture may be functioning due to prevailing assumptions,= newly adopted corporate values, and unwitting personnel. In time, such= behaviors become accepted as necessary to accomplish tasks or perhaps for= senior faculty to increase their power or move up the administrative= ladder. Bully behaviors become institutionalized within the culture,= strengthen it negatively, and are transmitted to the next generation of= faculty. Faculty may not recognize existing leverage that will help alter= a bully or mob culture.

Warning Signals

Barometric pressure in an organization may be measured through astute= faculty and administrative recognition of prevailing problems. These= problems manifest themselves through typical workplace warning signals. If= not addressed, these warning signs become characteristic of the academic= culture and organizational structure. Their presence can precipitate= conflict and increase anxiety. Warning signs of incivility and further= disintegration to a deeply ingrained bully culture begin with low morale,= high turnover, increased early retirement, and increased absenteeism and= tardiness; diminished work quality of once-productive people; new faculty= struggling to survive; increased illness and health issues; working at home= more than usual; lower or poorer work quality, increasing faculty isolation= and alienation; a low degree of meaningful faculty participation in= governance activities; poor faculty performance patterns illustrated= through low research productivity and poor teaching evaluations; and= consistency of poorer faculty performance evaluations (Davenport, Schwartz,= & Elliott, 1999). In addition, Kezar (2000) found that misunderstood,= disrespected, and disenfranchised faculty and administrators exit= universities, most often citing conflict and miscommunication. Some are= concerned as to what has been contained in their personnel files that may= not be reflective of their work..
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With all the funny business going on, I requested to see my personnel file. = The HR guy went into a state of panic and stalled me. After I returned= from leave, I asked the HR guy for my folder again, and he said he would= ask the VP if I could see my file. I wanted to see what was in there.-Ben
________________________________________________________________

What could logically be the result of academic bullying tends to fall under= what Huston, Norman, and Ambrose (2007) labeled disengagement. They found= in their research that productive senior faculty experience a negative,= often traumatic experience in their department or college and subsequently= disengage from collegial discussions, campus service, department socials,= and junior faculty mentoring. Instead already productive faculty channel= that negativity into positive other-focused activities that improve their= teaching and enlarge their publication records, and often they engage in= professional service off campus and pursue consulting opportunities. They= also found that a typical faculty response among the disengaged manifested= itself in exiting the institution, withdrawal from it, silence or its= opposite (speaking out against injustice), or cynicism and sabotage. Bully= cultures can emerge within the cultures of silence and cynicism and set in= motion long-term consequences for the institution.

Warning signals may be telling, if and when they are noticed (Montez,= Wolverton, & Gmelch, 2002; Rosser, Johnsrud, & Heck, 2003). However one= major reason that these warning signals may go unnoticed is that= recognizing workplace aggression and doing something about it are not part= of the standard graduate curriculum or the socialization or professionaliza= tion process of junior faculty (Weidman, Twale, & Stein, 2001). No one is= really sure what he or she is looking for. Furthermore, attempting to deal= with workplace aggression within the university organizational structure= often dwarfs the person or victim seeking justice or restitution. When= unsuccessful, the do-gooder often experiences powerlessness or helplessness= (Dziech & Weiner, 1990).
______________________________________________________

A faculty colleague who left had an exit interview with the provost and= mentioned things that were going on in her department, and to my knowledge= nothing was ever done to change them.-Lucille
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Faculty and administration need to ask themselves the following questions:

* Where are the pressure points within my smaller department and the larger = organization?
* Is moral low? Why?
* Is turnover high? Why?
* What are the work patterns over time?
* What is the tenor at faculty meetings?
* How would one describe faculty demeanor toward one another? Are= colleagues uncivil to one another?
* Are there opportunities or committees where individuals can bully others= and remain undetected?
* Are there situations that harbor bullying yet have been ignored?
* Does the organizational tolerance for bullying create mutual acceptance= for such behaviors?
* Is bullying a learned behavior supported in the culture and the= organizational structure, and do certain organizational structures attract = bullies?

References

Davenport, N., Schwarts, R., & Elliott, G. (1999). Mobbing: Emotional abuse= in the American workplace. Ames, IA: Civil Society Publishing.

Dziech, B., & Weiner, L. (1990). The lecherous professor (2nd ed.) Urbana:= University of Illinois Press.

Huston, T., Norman, M., & Ambrose, S. (2007). Expanding the discussion of= faculty vitality to include productive but disengaged senior faculty.= Journal of Higher Education, 78, 493-522.

Kezar, A. (2000). Pluralistic leadership: Incorporating diverse voices.= Journal of Higher Education, 71, 722-743.

Montez, J., Wolverton, M., & Gmelch, W. (2002). The roles and challenges of= deans. Review of Higher Education, 26, 241-266.

Rosser, V., Johnsrud, L., & Heck, R. (2003). Academic deans and directors:
Assessing their effectiveness from individual and institutional= perspectives. Journal of Higher Education, 74, 1-25.

Weidman, J., Twale, D., & Stein, E. (2001). Socialization of graduate and= professional students in higher education: A perilous passage? San=
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.