Incivility: the new type of bullying in higher education

Research surrounding higher education workplace aggression is regularly focused on acts of bullying down the hierarchical chain. This paper examines the data generated from interviews with 20 faculty deans to demonstrate that a shift in negative higher education workplace behaviour is occurring. This change primarily results in the well-defined and identified practice of bullying being replaced with victims enduring the accumulated impact of acts of varied disrespect such as negative comments, under the breath comments, intentionally misinterpreting instructions or spreading rumours, collectively known as incivility. This is a crucial shift that must be acknowledged by university managers, as incivility is rising in prominence and is difficult to stop using existing policies. Yet incivility has the same harmful impact on its victims as traditional forms of bullying. The paper thus analyses the rates of incivility in a set higher education leadership role, and the repercussions on victims in their professional and personal lives.