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

Abstract

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.

Keywords:

• bullying
• development
• harassment
• prejudice
• regional

Acknowledgements

The views expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Australian Research Council.

Additional information

Funding

This paper is based on surveys conducted for the Australian Research Council Linkage Grant LPO991191 Gender and Employment Equity: Strategies for Advancement in Australian Universities.