CfA Women in Science
Bullying: Collegial and Otherwise
SAO Home Page
black line

  • Sociological studies indicate that gender discrimination continues in the physical sciences. Yet, if the discrimination is subtle and undermines us only through an accumulation of small disadvantages, how will we recognize it? And if we don't recognize it, how can we maintain our confidence and sense of purpose?

  • One aspect of the problem may be related to bullying, not as different as we might think from the schoolyard bullying of our youth. Bullying includes direct actions such as teasing, taunting, threatening, hitting and stealing, as well as indirect actions intended to force social isolation, such as spreading rumors. Here is what the research on bullying in schools shows:

    * Bullying seems to peak in the middle school years.

    * About 15% of middle school kids are directly involved in bullying as either victims or bullies.

    *As many as 85% of kids surveyed say that they have witnessed bullying.

    * Boys engage in bullying behaviors more than girls and tend to be more direct; girls who bully tend to use more indirect methods.

    * The victims of bullies are generally perceived as being more vulnerable than their peers.

  • Several high profile professors have recently been accused of bullying tactics, including Harvard's Larry Summers, and more recently Susumu Tonegawa at MIT. Recent news reports can be found here.

    We will discuss ways to deal with behaviors that may be the workplace equivalent of schoolyard bullying.

    *******************************************************

    Notes added following the discussion on 4 December 2006:

    Transcripts of some emails obtained by the Boston Globe make for interesting reading. Is this bullying or not? Can bullying be collegial?

    Is your boss a psychopath? published in The Guardian, 18 April 2005.

    This website gives lots of advice on bullying in the workplace. Much of it is based on personal experience and anecdote rather than research, but it's a place to start.

    For an overview of school-age bullying and what types of interventions work, the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado at Boulder has produced this.

    Bully prevention programs in schools work to change the school climate. One of the keys is to encourage the "silent majority," those who stand by and watch, to speak up.

    The SAO Ombudspeople are available to everyone at the CfA. They are available to help resolve issues and can also direct you to other resources.

    Updated by N. Brickhouse, 6 December 2006.