Cambridge staff unhappy with response to bullying claims

The University of Cambridge has been accused of allowing bullying and harassment to become “entrenched and normalised” after it was revealed that only a quarter of staff are happy with how the institution handles concerns.

Cambridge surveyed about 3,000 members – around a quarter – of university staff on staff culture – the results of which can be revealed following a Freedom of Information request by Times Higher Education.

Conducted in January and February last year, the survey results show that the vast majority (84 per cent) of staff knew where and how to report discrimination, harassment or abuse.

But only 62 per cent said they would feel comfortable raising concerns if they witnessed or experienced it, and just 27 per cent were satisfied with how bullying and harassment are addressed in their department.

In addition, half of respondents felt that their mental health and well-being were supported, and just 45 per cent feel confident asking for support.

And staff were clearly not hopeful that much will change. Just 27 per cent believed that action would be taken on the results of the survey.

The findings on bullying follow on from a 2020 survey, when 21 per cent of staff members reported experiencing bullying.

Wyn Evans, professor of astrophysics at Cambridge and leader of the 21 Group which sprung up as a result of those findings, said “zero tolerance to bullying means zero bullying”. 

“Instead, there are a number of problematic departments and institutes in which bullying and harassment has become entrenched and normalised,” he said.

“The 21 Group urges the university to put these departments into immediate special measures. This must include removing the failing heads of department or school, as well as reforming the departmental management and human resources structures.”

Evans said there has been some progress – but warned that some departments were still performing “miserably”.

His own research has found that the proportion of staff dissatisfied with how bullying and harassment is dealt with is as high as 40 or 50 per cent in many departments...

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/cambridge-staff-unhappy-response-bullying-claims