Identification of Bullying Among Tenured and Non-Tenured Faculty in Colleges of Agricultural and Life Sciences at Land-Grant Universities

Abstract

This study examines bullying behaviors of higher education faculty in colleges of agricultural and life sciences at land grant universities within the United States. More specifically, this study examines the faculty status, tenured versus non-tenured, in identifying if one status prevails over the other as bullying and/or being bullied. This discovery leads to recommendations for educational outreach efforts that create awareness, identification, and a remediation program to address bullying among higher education faculty.

This study explores demographic variables such as tenure status, gender, years at current university, title, and race. Analyses were also calculated to look for significant differences in bullying tenured versus non-tenured faculty.

An adapted questionnaire was sent to a random sample of tenured and non-tenured faculty members in departments in colleges of agricultural and life sciences at 66 land-grant universities to determine if bullying occurs and if so, who the prominent bullies were among tenured and non-tenured faculty. Analyses did not show a statistically significant difference among faculty status in witnessing bullying. However, data did show a statistically significant difference with experiencing bullying in tenured status for attributing the personal characteristic of a health condition or disability as a reason for being bullied. There was also a statistically significant difference among tenured and non-tenured faculty when looking at the demographics of years worked at current university in the 0-5 years and 21 years or more categories. There were also statistically significant differences in tenure status for gender and race, specifically between the race categories of Black or African and White. A greater number of non-tenured faculty and a greater number of female faculty showed to be bullied in higher education in colleges of agricultural and life sciences.