The effects of long-term workplace bullying on academics

Long-term workplace bullying can have significant adverse effects on academics, impacting their psychological well-being, job performance, and overall career prospects.

Negative consequences of workplace bullying:

Psychological and Emotional Effects: Workplace bullying can lead to increased stress, mental distress, sleep disturbances, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and even work-related suicide. Victims may experience a loss of self-esteem and feelings of isolation, powerlessness, confusion, and helplessness.

Impact on Job Performance: Bullying negatively affects a person's ability to perform their job, leading to decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, and difficulty concentrating. Bullied workers may struggle with their ability to work or concentrate, have trouble making decisions, and experience lower productivity.

Behavioral Changes: Victims of workplace bullying may spend time avoiding the bully, networking for support, planning how to deal with the situation, ruminating about the problem, and trying to defend themselves.

Effects on Well-being: Studies show that bullying impairs psychological well-being and erodes self-esteem, leading to anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, burnout, negative self-evaluations, and physical health problems.

Risk of Job Loss: Targets of workplace bullying are more likely to change employers and face a higher probability of unemployment in the long run. Workplace bullying is linked to a perceived loss of professional reputation, bad references, motivational problems, and a loss of self-confidence, increasing the likelihood of unemployment.

Organisational Impact: Workplace bullying can create a hostile work environment, impact workers' compensation claims, promote absenteeism, reduce productivity, and result in costly legal issues.

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/the-effect-of-long-term-workpl-oDy_5eOdRQu8Y7NzvzMJ2Q

The Envy of Excellence: Administrative Mobbing of High-Achieving Professors

 

Kenneth Westhues, professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo, in his 2006 book, The Envy of Excellence: Administrative Mobbing of High-Achieving Professors, Westhues developed a list of criteria to identify mobbing. Amongst them:

• The target is popular and high-achieving. Mediocre performers tend not to arouse the eliminative impulse in peers.
• Unanimity prevails among colleagues: “The loss of diverse opinion is a compelling indication that eliminative fury has been unleashed.”
• The charges are vague and fuzzy.
• Rumours and gossip circulate about the target’s misdeeds: “Did you hear what she did last week?”
• Unusual timing of the decision to punish, e.g., apart from the annual performance review.
• Adding up the target’s real or imagined venial sins to make a mortal sin that cries for action.
• A lack of due process.
• The rhetoric is overblown. “The more fervent, excited and overwrought the language used against the target, the less likely is the basis for exclusion of anything but a collective will to destroy.”
• The target is seen as personally abhorrent, with no redeeming qualities; stigmatising, exclusionary labels are applied.

The Silent Crisis: Bullying Among Nurse Educators in Higher Education

 

Bullying in nursing is a well-documented issue, but less attention has been given to the experiences of nurse educators who face hostility within academic institutions. While nursing education should promote professional growth, collaboration, and mentorship, many nurse educators—especially those in tenure-track positions—experience bullying from colleagues, senior faculty, or administrators. These hostile work environments have profound consequences, leading many talented educators to leave academia entirely or return to clinical practice...

The Scope of Bullying in Nursing Academia

Bullying in higher education is a widespread and systemic issue. Keashly and Neuman (2010) found that faculty members in academia frequently experience bullying behaviors, including persistent criticism, professional exclusion, and attempts to damage their reputation. These behaviors often go unaddressed due to power imbalances, hierarchical structures, and institutional tolerance for incivility. Within nursing education, bullying often manifests in ways that undermine an educator’s credibility and professional standing, such as excessive scrutiny of work, withholding of resources, and exclusion from key academic opportunities. 

The hierarchical structure of academia places tenure-track faculty at particular risk, as they are vulnerable to unfair evaluation practices, disproportionate workloads, and a lack of mentorship from senior faculty. Levecque et al. (2017) found that faculty in highly demanding positions—such as those pursuing tenure—are at greater risk for mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression, and burnout. When bullying is added to these pressures, the result is often faculty disengagement or attrition. 

The Impact on Nurse Educators and Institutions

The consequences of academic bullying extend beyond the individuals directly affected. Nurse educators who experience bullying report increased stress, reduced job satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion (Clark, Olender, Cardoni, & Kenski, 2011). When educators feel unsupported, their ability to mentor students and contribute to nursing scholarship declines, diminishing the overall quality of nursing education. 

This loss of faculty members is particularly concerning, given the ongoing nursing faculty shortage. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) reports that thousands of qualified nursing applicants are turned away each year due to a lack of faculty. Bullying-induced faculty turnover exacerbates this crisis, forcing institutions to rely on fewer educators to meet growing educational demands. Furthermore, a toxic workplace culture may discourage younger nurse educators from entering academia, perpetuating the shortage and reducing the profession’s ability to educate future nurses. ...

From: https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/academic-leadership/the-silent-crisis-bullying-among-nurse-educators-in-higher-education/

The industries most at risk for bullying

Workplace bullying can occur in any industry, but specific sectors face a heightened risk due to their structural and operational dynamics. For example, industries with rigid hierarchical structures may create an environment where authority figures can exploit their power and mistreat subordinates. 

Factors that foster a toxic work environment and increase the likelihood of bullying include:

 

●Rigid hierarchical structures 

●High-pressure environments 

●Frequent interpersonal interactions 

●Lack of clear communication 

●Unbalanced workloads 

●Authoritarian leadership styles 

●High employee turnover 

●Limited career advancement opportunities 

The industries most affected by workplace bullying are retail (60%), healthcare (30%-60%), hospitality (38%), education (32%), and technology/IT (30%). 

https://www.onfocus.news/the-industries-most-at-risk-for-bullying/