For decades, the hallowed halls of academia have been portrayed as bastions of collegiality and reasoned debate. But a growing body of research tells a darker story: a silent epidemic of bullying, workplace violence, and psychological aggression directed at faculty members.
By J. Morgan, Senior Education Correspondent read academic violence and bullying of faculty online free
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes. If you are experiencing workplace violence or bullying, consult your institution’s ombudsperson or a legal professional. For decades, the hallowed halls of academia have
As one tenured professor (who asked to remain anonymous) told this reporter: “Reading the free PDF of Leymann’s work on mobbing saved my life. I saw my department’s behavior laid out in clinical detail. I wasn’t crazy. I was a target.” I saw my department’s behavior laid out in clinical detail
But here is the insult added to injury: to read that very study, a non-affiliated individual would typically need to pay $39.95. In response, a coalition of scholars, librarians, and advocates has pushed for Open Access (OA) publishing. High-quality, free repositories now exist where one can legally find peer-reviewed literature on faculty bullying.
The data is stark. Studies suggest that anywhere from 30% to 70% of university professors have experienced some form of workplace bullying or mobbing (where a group targets an individual) during their careers. Yet, for the average person—or even a junior scholar trying to understand their own trauma—accessing the peer-reviewed evidence has been a cruel paradox: the very research documenting institutional cruelty is often locked behind expensive journal paywalls.
If you are a faculty member suffering in silence, or a student witnessing a professor being systematically destroyed, know this: the evidence is out there. It is free. It is legal. And it is a roadmap for what is broken—and perhaps, one day, for how to fix it.