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A survivor’s guide to academic bullying

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... As this phase evolves, paperwork and deliberate repetition of the malicious and baseless complaints (e.g. by managers and human resources departments) [6] result in concealing the truth and the power imbalance, and in oppressing, silencing and underscoring the grievance of the innocent, and very often female, employee. The intensity and regularity of the mistreatment, leading to psychological and health-related repercussions, makes employees numb; they have difficulties in defending themselves and protecting their mental health. ...
... By contrast, their victims find themselves with few options to pursue their cases after reporting abuse internally because their institutions gave little or biased consideration to their cases [21]. In many instances, targets face retaliatory action such as negative, unsubstantiated or biased testimony regarding their own actions, with the aim to damage their reputation and justify the perpetrators' actions [6,22]. One well-known process, for example, that undermines the empowerment of targets is gaslighting, in which perpetrators and human resource advisors, but also higher management, suggest that the behaviour does not constitute bullying, that the target is overly sensitive, or worse, needs to improve their communication skills. ...
... Targets of academic harassment can arm themselves with some strategies including proper documentation of each incidence and seeking help from trusted and independent resources such as Ombuds offices and external organizations working in the field of academic harassment. Some key lessons that targets of academic harassment can employ to protect themselves and fight back are provided in reference [6]. ...
Article
It is time to hold every member of the scientific community responsible and ‘response able’ in addressing/reporting academic harassment. Stop applauding academic stars on the podium prior to checking what is happening underneath!
... Misogyny, racism, anti-Semitism and homophobia, on the other hand, have raised their ugly head and have led to the unfair targeting or undermining of minority academics. Prevalent are also well-orchestrated schemes of bullying targeted academics out of a job with a view to ending their professional careers and depriving scientific communities worldwide of talent and scientific advances (Mahmoudi 2019;Mahmoudi 2020;Mahmoudi and Moss 2019;Mervis 2019;Sinkkonen et al. 2014). At the same time, institutional retaliation and punishment of complainants of discrimination, bullying and harassment and of whistleblowers are noticeable in universities in Europe, the USA and elsewhere. ...
... • One must be aware of academic mobbing (ganging-up). • Requesting a written letter from the investigation committee (Mahmoudi 2020). ...
Article
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Notwithstanding universities’ many laudable aims, incidents of serious bullying, academic harassment and sexual harassment in academic settings are reported with increasing regularity globally. However, the human rights violations involved in bullying and academic harassment have not received attention by the literature. In this article, we pierce the veil of silence surrounding university environments and provide a systematic account of the breaches of international and European human rights law involved in academic bullying and harassment. By adopting a socio-legal lens, we shed light onto such practices and tactics, the breaches of specific human rights and norms and the reluctance of states and regulators to intervene in what is perceived to be universities’ ‘sovereign’ sphere of jurisdiction in order to prevent human rights’ violations and to protect the victims of human rights abuse. We call for a multi-faceted and multi-agency approach to tackle academic bullying and harassment, and make a number of institutional and policy recommendations to ensure universities’ compliance with human rights standards and the effective protection of academics under attack.
... As previously stated, ANIMA, as a part of the scientific publication in the psychological field community, shall take tangible action. The effective way to stop the negative culture of academic bullying needs cooperation from the entire scientific workforce (Mahmoudi, 2020). Thus, we need to explore the recommendations to overcome unprofessional peer reviews. ...
... Terkait hal tersebut di atas, ANIMA sebagai bagian dari komunitas publikasi ilmiah di bidang psikologi akan mengambil tindakan. Langkah efektif untuk menghentikan kultur negatif perundungan ilmiah memerlukan kerjasama seluruh praktisi ilmiah (Mahmoudi, 2020). Karenanya, kami perlu mengeksplorasi berbagai rekomendasi untuk mengatasi penilaian sejawat yang tidak profesional. ...
Article
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Academic bullying in peer reviews is a cultural problem. This Editorial Note is intended to identify the unhelpful comments/critiques and to highlight the impact of unprofessional peer reviews toward the well-being and career development of fellow researchers. We acknowledge that we are part of the problems, and the necessary steps are needed to break the chain of the academic bullying culture in peer reviews. New guidelines for editors and reviewers are part of the solutions to promote constructive comments, as well as stronger internal consolidation throughout the peer reviews process. Perundungan akademik dalam penilaian sejawat (peer review) adalah sebuah permasalahan kultur. Catatan Editorial ini bertujuan mengindentifikasi komentar atau kritik yang tidak membangun, serta menggarisbawahi dampak penilaian sejawat yang tidak profesional terhadap kesejahteraan dan pengembangan karir sesama peneliti. Kami menyadari bahwa kami merupakan bagian dari permasalahan ini, dan diperlukan langkah-langkah untuk memutus rantai kultur perundungan akademik dalam penilaian sejawat. Pedoman baru bagi editor dan mitra bestari merupakan bagian dari solusi untuk mendorong komentar yang konstruktif, serta konsolidasi internal yang lebih kuat dalam proses penilaian sejawat.
... More formal initiatives outside academia, such as the Academic Parity Movement 7 , can provide external support for victims of harassment and help raise awareness about its occurrence. Such initiatives, however, should not lead us to overlook the distinct power that already close bystanders have to intervene [11,41]. Further, initiatives like the Neuromatch 8 movement can work towards equitable participation and mutual support in scientific research by providing open source teaching and connecting people in virtual summer schools and conferences [42]. ...
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We argue that many of the crises currently afflicting science can be associated with a present failure of science to sufficiently embody its own values. Here, we propose a response beyond mere crisis resolution based on the observation that an ethical framework of flourishing derived from the Buddhist tradition aligns surprisingly well with the values of science itself. This alignment, we argue, suggests a recasting of science from a competitively managed activity of knowledge production to a collaboratively organized moral practice that puts kindness and sharing at its core. We end by examining how Flourishing Science could be embodied in academic practice, from individual to organizational levels, and how that could help to arrive at a flourishing of scientists and science alike.
... In the area of academic bullying, we are now focused on i) how targets can protect themselves [10], ii) better understand the reasons that enables bullies to thrive in academia [11] and iii) strategies that can bring other stakeholders to the discussion to seek solutions [12]. For example, we continue to discuss the issue with various funding agencies. ...
Article
M Mahmoudi is an assistant professor in the Department of Radiology and Precision Health Program at Michigan State University (MI, USA). His research group has three broad lines of enquiry: nanomedicine, regenerative medicine and academic bullying and harassment. In the field of nanomedicine, the lab focuses on understanding the protein corona - the mix of biomolecules that binds to the surface of a nanoparticle when it interacts with biological fluids - and the complications this brings to reproducibility and data interpretation in the field of nanomedicine. In regenerative medicine, his lab works on cardiac regeneration and wound healing. His lab is also very active in the social sciences, specifically in the fields of gender disparity in the sciences and academic harassment. In addition to his academic postings, M Mahmoudi is a cofounder and director of the Academic Parity Movement (a nonprofit organization); a cofounder of NanoServ, Targets' Tip and Partners in Global Wound Care; and a member of the Nanomedicine editorial board.
... Academia has the second-highest rate of reported sexual harassment (in comparison with military, which has the highest rate, the private sector, and government; Ilies et al., 2003). Accordingly, harassment and bullying are described as epidemic in academia (Mahmoudi, 2019(Mahmoudi, , 2020Gewin, 2021;Moss and Mahmoudi, 2021;Täuber and Mahmoudi, 2022) and retaliation against reporters of misconduct is a key contributing factor (Bergman et al., 2002;Cortina and Magley, 2003). ...
Article
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Despite policy efforts targeted at making universities more inclusive and equitable, academia is still rife with harassment and bullying, and opportunities are far from equal for everyone. The present preregistered survey research (N = 91) aimed to explore whether an intersectional approach can be useful to examine the tangible effects of policy ineffectiveness, even when legislative and ideologic constraints limit the possibility to conduct a full-fledged intersectional analysis. Policy ineffectiveness was operationalized as experiences of harassment, discrimination, institutional resistance to gender equality, and retaliation against reporters of misconduct in universities. Policy ineffectiveness was negatively related to women academics’ inclination to pursue an academic career. This relationship was mediated by lower levels of psychological safety associated with policy ineffectiveness. Importantly, women academics who differ from the majority on multiple dimensions show a stronger and more negative relationship between policy ineffectiveness and psychological safety. The study further shows that self-report measures are useful to uncover intersectional privilege afforded to overrepresented groups in academia. The study discusses the benefits of intersectional approaches for designing and implementing effective policies to tackle harassment and inequality in academia, even when the available methodologies are constrained by legislation and ideology. Overall, self-report measurement can have an important function for signalling areas that warrant further intersectional inquiry to ensure that policies serve everyone.
Research Proposal
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Call for papers: THE SECRET ACADEMIA: THE SYSTEMIC AND CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE PRACTICES OF ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT. Together with Prof. Izabela Wagner, we would like to produce a book analyzing the various practices of academic abuse of power and "bad behavior." We are interested in systemic, institutional, cultural, etc. analyses, i.e. we would like to move from the level of specific cases (e.g. power abuse, bullying, sexual harassment, bullying, etc.) to answering the question of how it is possible, how elements of the academic system and culture enable (or even cause) such behavior and its persistence in our environment. The link to the call: https://mariuszfinkielsztein.com/2024/06/20/the-secret-academia/
Article
Colleges and universities are the main stakeholders in addressing academic bullying. To help address a variety of concerns on campus, including academic bullying, many colleges and universities have established organizational Ombuds Offices as a place to bring any issue affecting one's work or studies. This article considers the role of Ombuds Offices in addressing the issue of academic bullying. Ombuds offices, compared to the other institutional resources, have a unique capacity in helping targets of academic bullying to wisely consider their options. This piece provides information on what targets can expect from Ombuds offices.
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Background It is now well-documented that academic bullying, mainly driven by power differences, affects all disciplines and academic people with various positions (from students to senior faculty) of all levels of experience. Our aim is to probe whether academic bullying, in its specific forms, manifests differently across disciplines. Methods We analyzed discipline-specific data from our global survey on academic bullying, which was collected since November 2019. The survey was a cross-sectional global study that was administered via Qualtrics. It reflects responses from 2122 individuals whose participation was solicited through various means including advertisements in Science and Nature magazines and the American Chemical Society. Findings The main finding is that academic bullying does not affect all scientific fields equally. Our cross-sectional global survey of targets of academic bullying indicates that bullying behavior depended strongly on the scientific discipline. Specifically, our comparison of the three major scientific categories, including Applied Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) in four (out of ten) of the contextual behaviors. Further comparison of the bullying behavior among specific disciplines (e.g., Chemistry, Engineering, Life Sciences, Neuroscience, and Social Sciences) revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) in five of the contextual behaviors. We also noticed that, among the top five disciplines analyzed, respondents in Engineering experienced the highest rate of bullying behaviors. Interpretation The variation in contextual bullying behavior across disciplines suggests the need for specific and nuanced training, monitoring, and actions by stakeholders in addressing academic bullying in a context-specific manner. Funding None.
Article
Academic bullying is a serious issue that affects all disciplines and people of all levels of experience. Coordinated global actions against academic bullying in higher education seem to be the only effective and timely pathway to remove „power poisoning“ at any level in our science backyard. Abstract Academic bullying is a serious issue that affects all disciplines and people of all levels of experience. To create a truly safe, productive, and vibrant environment in academia requires coordinated and collaborative input as well as the action of a variety of stakeholders, including scholarly communities, funding agencies, and institutions. In this Viewpoint, we focus on a framework of integrated responding, in which stakeholders as responsible and response‐able parties could proactively collaborate and coordinate to reduce the incidence and consequences of academic bullying while at the same time building constructive academic cultures. The outcome of such a framework would be to create novel entities (e.g. centre of excellence in academic ethics and civility) and actions (e.g. incorporating bullying records into institutional rankings) that accelerate successful responses to academic bullying.
Article
Full-text available
Academic bullying is a serious issue that affects all disciplines and people of all levels of experience. To create a truly safe, productive, and vibrant environment in academia requires coordinated and collaborative input as well as the action of a variety of stakeholders, including scholarly communities, funding agencies, and institutions. In this Viewpoint, we focus on a framework of integrated responding, in which stakeholders as responsible and response‐able parties could proactively collaborate and coordinate to reduce the incidence and consequences of academic bullying while at the same time building constructive academic cultures. The outcome of such a framework would be to create novel entities (e.g. centre of excellence in academic ethics and civility) and actions (e.g. incorporating bullying records into institutional rankings) that accelerate successful responses to academic bullying.