Women Academics’ Learning as a Result of Being Bullied

Abstract

Like other workplaces, bullying occurs in academia. Additionally, women report more frequent and severe forms of bullying than men. The purpose of this qualitative study was to unearth women academics’ learning because of being bullied. We discuss the learning context and explore the learning that occurred. Understanding these factors can augment the literature on bullying in academia. As a result of being bullied, women fundamentally changed their perceptions of themselves, others, their respective institutions, and their priorities. This study reveals how women can gain skills and have negative and positive changes in worldview. We offer practical suggestions for faculty, administrators, and institutions to promote learning from the experience of being bullied.

Algorithmic violence

“…Although this gender pattern is by no means unique (with women represented among bullies and men among their victims), this envy seems to take a particularly virulent form in the bullying of women by men. The research literature on bullying reveals a high prevalence of women, often exceptional women, among those who are bullied (Baumgartner, Zarestky & Lechuga, 2022). As the 1904 cases analysed by Sherry Moss and Morteza Mahmoudi (2021) demonstrate, a specific targeting of women academics is common, in part because of their precarious positions, combined with rigid enforcement of metricised performance management and associated surveillance (Gill, 2014).…”

Intersectional research in adult education: A diffractive gaze

“…Alfred (2021), Barker (2021), Reneau and Brooks (2020) Incorporating intersectionality into adult learning and education. Baumgartner et al (2022), Brookfield (2003), Tharp (2017), Thériault (2019) As readers of the literature, we recognize the impact of the researcher's social identities and experiences on intra-acting with the texts (Lens Taguchi & Parlmer, 2013). We appreciated the entangled positionality and research experiences of the three authors throughout the research process.…”

“…Adult bullying should not happen for sure, but in some cases, adult bullying experiences were found to lead to transformative learning. Based on the interviews of 11 women professors from multidiscipline and multi-races, Baumgartner et al (2022) found that the women professors experienced transformative learning as a result of being bullied in academia (e.g., bodily bullying, exclusion, emotional burden) since their perceptions and worldviews were changed positively or negatively. After being bullied, some women professors learned to value themselves, changed priorities (e.g., began enjoying life more than pleasing others) and gained compassion for others, although bullying certainly had a negative effect (e.g., worsened viewpoints of the world, including themselves, others, and institutions).…”

“…IR in AE also showed that women and historically excluded adults (e.g., Black Caribbean immigrant women, gay of color, Syrian Muslim refugee women) experienced bullying and discrimination (Baumgartner et al., 2022; Misawa, 2015; Ugurel Kamisli, 2021), but they described their oppressed experiences in ways that captured and focused on different patterns. For instance, through interviews with gay faculty of color, Misawa (2015) conceptualized adult bullying differently, as bullying against adults with multiply marginalized identities were shown to have three different types of bullying stemming from the entanglement of positionalities and identities and the interaction between individuals.…”

“…Some IR in AE has illuminated transformative learning (Baumgartner et al., 2022) and transformative education (Brookfield, 2003) in relation to intersectionality. These studies have shown that adults’ intersected identities may influence the process of transformative learning, and transformative education should interrogate interlocking systems of power by building multiracial coalitions and allyship.…”