Self-reported harassment and bullying in Australian universities: explaining differences between regional, metropolitan and elite institutions

TY - JOUR

T1 - Self-reported harassment and bullying in Australian universities: explaining differences between regional, metropolitan and elite institutions

AU - Skinner, Timothy C.

AU - Peetz, David

AU - Strachan, Glenda

AU - Whitehouse, Gillian

AU - Bailey, Janis

AU - Broadbent, Kaye

PY - 2015/9/3

Y1 - 2015/9/3

N2 - We analyse data from the largest survey of university staff in Australia to determine whether bullying and harassment are more common in regional than metropolitan and Go8 universities, and to what extent any differences could be attributed to other factors. While professional staff showed no difference in harassment rates between regional and metropolitan and Go8 universities, academic staff at regional universities reported significantly higher levels of harassment. This probably reflected the labour market and resource context of regional universities. Binary logistic regression indicated that a perceived lack of support for professional development partially explained the effect of regional status on differences in the rates of harassment/bullying across university types. Markers of organisational culture only partially account for differences in the rates of harassment/bullying between university types.

AB - We analyse data from the largest survey of university staff in Australia to determine whether bullying and harassment are more common in regional than metropolitan and Go8 universities, and to what extent any differences could be attributed to other factors. While professional staff showed no difference in harassment rates between regional and metropolitan and Go8 universities, academic staff at regional universities reported significantly higher levels of harassment. This probably reflected the labour market and resource context of regional universities. Binary logistic regression indicated that a perceived lack of support for professional development partially explained the effect of regional status on differences in the rates of harassment/bullying across university types. Markers of organisational culture only partially account for differences in the rates of harassment/bullying between university types.

KW - bullying

KW - development

KW - harassment

KW - prejudice

KW - regional

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84943429353&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/1360080X.2015.1079400

DO - 10.1080/1360080X.2015.1079400

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:84943429353

SN - 1360-080X

VL - 37

SP - 558

EP - 571

JO - Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management

JF - Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management

IS - 5

ER -