An In-depth Research Portfolio: Understanding Bullying in Higher Ed

This research portfolio provides an overview of bullying in higher education, drawing from various sources to explore its different forms and impacts on students and staff. It covers social bullying, sexual abuse, cyberbullying, and workplace bullying among educators. The portfolio highlights that bullying leads to depression, isolation, and decreased self-esteem among victims, and can manifest in both traditional and modern forms. Studies from the UK, Kenya, Finland, Taiwan and the USA reveal the prevalence and detrimental effects of bullying in academic settings, including its impact on learning environments and academic freedom. The research emphasizes the need for awareness and intervention to address bullying in higher education institutions. Desklib offers this and many other solved assignments to help students.

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Research Portfolio
Bullying.co.uk. (2019). Bullying at University - Family Lives. [online] Available at:
https://www.bullying.co.uk/general-advice/bullying-at-university/ [Accessed 25 Feb.
2019].
According to the website, going to the university can either become exciting or nerve-
cracking at the same time. The experience is good until one becomes bullied or witnesses the
cases of bullying within the institution. The website shows some form of bullying which the
university students undergo. Social bullying occurs when one is excluded from others on
purpose. This includes teasing, taunting someone and the usage of insults towards somebody.
The other form is that of being abused sexually. This involves sexualized calling plus using
insults to refer to the sexuality of other person. This is common within the university premises in
United Kingdom.
Devlin, H. and Marsh, S. (2019). Hundreds of academics at top UK universities accused of
bullying. [online] the Guardian. Available at:

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https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/sep/28/academics-uk-universities-
accused-bullying-students-colleagues [Accessed 25 Feb. 2019].
Devlin and Marsh are the authors from the United Kingdom. They did a research aimed
at proving the allegations of bullying within the universities. Their research showed that
hundreds of the top staffs within the colleges have bullied the students and even their fellow
colleagues over the last five years. This has led to the coming up of a culture of coercion and
harassment in the leading universities of Britain. Through the research, it was found that almost
300 academics comprising of senior professors plus laboratory directors have been involved in
bullying of the students. They even bully their fellow colleagues. The former and even current
students acknowledged these.
Journal of Bullying & Social Aggression. (2019). Bullies and Victims in Higher Education -
Journal of Bullying & Social Aggression. [online] Available at:
http://sites.tamuc.edu/bullyingjournal/article/bullies-and-victims-in-higher-
education/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2019].
According to the research, most students experience four types of bullying. The types are
physical, cyber-bullying, verbal and social. When the students undergo bullying they tend to
become depressed and at the same time isolated. This is because of the unwanted feeling. They
also feel disrespected. Bullying can also be of modern type or traditional type. Traditional may

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be evident through culture segregation and the beliefs of certain group of people. The modern
one may be inform of cyber bullying.
King, C. and Piotrowski, C. (2015). Bullying Of Educators By Educators: Incivility In
Higher Education. Contemporary Issues in Education Research (CIER), 8(4), p.257.
Bullying of the adults by the adults has become common in the higher learning
institutions. This occurs in the work places. This is witnessed amongst the administrators and the
staff in the learning and working settings. The bullying is abusive hence leading to intimidation
of some staff members. This has created hatred amongst the members. It has even led to some
members quitting their jobs. This in turn has affected the learning institutions negatively.
Lee, H. and Roth, G. (2009). A Conceptual Framework for Examining Knowledge
Management in Higher Education Contexts. New Horizons in Adult Education and
Human Resource Development, 23(4), pp.22-37.
The research shows some form of bullying within educational settings whereby the
teachers have become the prime targets for incivility and harassment. Some fewer have given
conceptual framework for research efforts to show bullying by the adults within academic
settings. The research done by the scholars shows that bullying possess negative impact towards
learning environment and settings of the learners. It affects learning environment negatively.

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MacDonald, Christine D. "Cyberbullying among College Students: Prevalence and
Demographic Differences." Cyberbullying among College Students: Prevalence and
Demographic Differences. N.P., 2010. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
MacDonald and Christine are the authors from the United States of America. They talk
about cyber bullying amongst the college students. They define cyber bullying as a form of
electronic communication for bullying a person. This is done through sending text messages that
are of intimidation or even threatening. Through their study, it is seen that this form of bullying
is hardly detected. This is due to lack of supervision. The bullies tend to pose as somebody else
so that they cannot be known. Cyber bullying is mostly done via the emails, text messaging,
social networking sites and instant messages.
Okwemba, A. (2019). Bullying in Kenyan schools higher than world rate - African Woman
and Child Feature Service. [online] Awcfs.org. Available at:
http://www.awcfs.org/index.php/component/%20k2/item/1474-bullying-in-kenyan-
schools-higher-than-world-rate [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019].
According to the author, learners in the higher institutions are undergoing higher levels of
intimidation. This has in turn led to poor performance and lower self-esteem. Those who have
been bullied before have transformed to bullies. This has increased the preference in the
institutions. The bullying has further become detrimental to those victims. Majority of those
students bullied have acknowledged that their belongings have been taken away by those who
bully them.

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Rudick, C. and Dannels, D. (2018). “Yes, and … ”: continuing the scholarly conversation
about anti-LGBT bullying in K-12 education. Communication Education, 67(4),
pp.528-531.
Rudick and Dannels are the staff members in one of the recognized learning institution
which is not mentioned. They acknowledge that they have witnessed at least ten cases of
bullying. This is whereby the heads of the departments acted in such a way that they intimidated
and diminished the students. The heads have also demeaned them by undermining their authority
in that they have addressed the complaints of the students towards them without consulting them
first. This has caused enmity amongst the staff and the students.
Sinkkonen, H., Puhakka, H. and Meriläinen, M. (2012). Bullying at a university: students'
experiences of bullying. Studies in Higher Education, 39(1), pp.153-165.
Sinkkomen, Puhakka and Merilainen are the professors from the University of Finland.
They are in the department of Educational sciences and Psychology. Their study focuses on the
bullying experiences within the University. They carried their research in Finnish University.
This happened in the year of 2010. According to the research, 5% of the university learners
undergo bullying. The bullying is either direct or indirect. The bullying is verbal. The bullied
students in return respond either actively or even passively. A good example is that of
interrupting studies whereby the bullying occurred.
Schafferer, C. and Szanajda, A. (2013). Bullying in Higher Education in Taiwan: The
Taiwan Higher Education Faculty Survey (THEFS). Journal of Contemporary
Eastern Asia, 12(1), pp.81-93.

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According to Schafferer and Szanajda, bullying has become a pressing issue whereby the
students in the higher institutions of learning have suffered a lot. This occurs amongst the
students and the staff members. Bullying is either verbal or physical. This has led to the loss of
academic freedom hence affecting the performance of the students greatly.