Mediating Bullying and Strain in Higher Education Institutions: The Case of Pakistan

Abstract

Although workplace bullying is a well-researched phenomenon, the specific way it unfolds in higher education institutions (HEI) remains largely underdiscussed. Based on the outcomes of a survey conducted across HEI in Pakistan, by reference to structural equation modeling, using Amos-20, this paper not only adds to our understanding of the scope and features of bullying in HEI, but also suggests strategies employers and victims could employ to cope with the adverse implications of bullying. The key findings of this research are: (i) a positive correlation exists between the degree of workplace bullying and strain levels; (ii) more frequently than not, female employees, younger employees, and employees in junior positions are victims of bullying; (iii) bullying and strain can be fully mediated only when both emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies are employed in synergy. In brief, although research findings elaborated in this paper draw from the specific case of HEI in Pakistan, this paper makes a case for more research, vigilance and action to understand the scale of the phenomenon in academia and to undertake concerted action to mitigate its adverse impact on specific individuals and HEI themselves.

Measuring the Scale and Scope of Workplace Bullying: An Alternative Workplace Bullying Scale

“…Workplace bullying seems to be an elusive concept in that it is challenging, first, to grasp the scope and scale of acts of hostility bullying implies and, second, to quantify it [1]. Several definitions of workplace bullying exist.…”

Measuring the Scale and Scope of Social Anxiety among Students in Pakistani Higher Education Institutions: An Alternative Social Anxiety Scale

“…Moreover, it cannot be known if the structure of the scale is equivalent for men and women and whether the item functioning is the same for both genders. Another limitation of our work is the implications of statistical techniques only, thus, in future studies, we further plan to employ state-of-the-art natural language processing and machine learning techniques to better understand the aversive effects of SAD on daily functioning; these have already proven to be highly useful in understanding other disorders that can lead to psychological problems, directly or indirectly [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50].…”

Linking Work-Family Conflict (WFC) and Talent Management: Insights from a Developing Country

“…Time-based pressure occurs in proportion to number of hours or time allocated in one role, making it arduous to allocate time to another role. Strain-based pressure occurs when strain resulting from one role negatively interferes in another role, e.g., being cranky and short tempered at home because of overload, maltreatment or bullying at workplace [15]. Behavior-based pressure occurs due to incompatibility of suitable or specific behavior required in work and family domains (e.g., being authoritative or strict at work may assist getting work done, but being strict at home may create tension at home).…”

“…Therefore, a focus on and a thorough understanding of issues such as WFC in its nascent phase might allow to develop preventive measures. These might include measures, on the one hand, aimed at increasing the society's awareness of the phenomenon and, on the other hand, introduction of incentives for employers to allow certain measures known for reducing the WFC [14][15][16][17]. More work needs to be done to develop a set of recommendations that might eventually feed into the decision-making process with a view to promoting policies and best practices aimed at mitigating WFC.…”

“…Knowledge and understanding of WFC and the specificity of the multiple challenges it signifies are necessary for efficient talent management at a company/organization level. Research suggests that several tools, including flexible working time and place, task-oriented appraisal to mention such a few [14][15][16][17], prove efficient in mitigating WFC. Nevertheless, all too frequently employers tend to ignore these insights.…”