The power of paradigms: a discussion of the absence of bullying research in the context of the university student experience

Abstract

The literature on bullying is vast and this social phenomenon has been studied in depth in relation to schooling and the workplace. Between school and workplace lies higher education (HE), but there is a marked absence of published work regarding undergraduate student‐to‐student bullying in this setting. This theoretical paper explores possible reasons for this omission through exploration of the drivers that orientate bullying research across school, university and workplace contexts. In schools, the research emphasis is heavily on the personality and behavioural deficiencies of pupils: an individual pathology paradigm. In the workplace, the emphasis is more weighted on organisational ethos: a systems paradigm. In itself, these differences are worthy of exploration, but added to the lack of bullying research in HE, the problem becomes more intriguing. This paper suggests that institutions, academic disciplines, Government and corporate policy makers may be driven by self‐serving interests that seek to protect positions of power. Academic disciplines remain territorial and paradigmatic dominance prevails, thereby creating a sustained need for particular professional knowledge and intervention and strengthening particular research positions. The exclusion of research inquiry into the HE student context represents a missed opportunity to bridge the gap between bullying in compulsory educational contexts and that of the workplace. Moving away from a compartmentalised and discipline bound approach to bullying research may offer further insight into this destructive social phenomenon.

Keywords:

• bullying
• university
• higher education
• undergraduate students
• research
• school
• workplace

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my thanks to Dr Neil Duncan, Professor Jo Allan and Professor Glynis Cousin for their valuable feedback on drafts of this paper.