In the Midst of the Maelstrom

Academic mobbing's impact upon the target and the target's professional world can throw one's world off kilter to the point that the target has difficulty maintaining a semblance of psychological and cognitive balance. This story is one target's approach towards maintaining a semblance of balance within the midst of the horrors of academic mobbing and bullying attacks. This target's ethical compass and balance are maintained through the support and guidance of outstanding colleagues, yet in more personal moments the target's sense of psychological equilibrium and emotional stability are drawn from the lifetime accumulation of quotations, lyrics, and poems that articulate one's ethical compass and steadfast psychological center.

Neoliberal Technocracy and Opposition Exams for Hiring Tenured Full-Time Professors in a Mexican Public University

In this chapter, the introduction of technocratic neoliberal policies in Mexico, starting in the mid-1980s, and their repercussions in higher education are analyzed. Special focus is set on its negative consequences for hiring tenured full-time professors at public universities. A case study from a public university is used to demonstrate how suppressing candidates and arbitrarily favoring others through sham dealing are almost part of the formal procedures now. This case was used because access to all the documentation was granted, and it was possible to interview in depth a female candidate who was suppressed twice. Unfortunately, experiencing suppression, workplace bullying, and mobbing for some candidates is almost the norm now. Also, when suppressed, they are left in a powerless position with almost no resources to confront injustice.

Mobbability

This chapter discusses mobbing as a predictable institutional disorder with significant community effect. Academic departments are particularly vulnerable as contexts where conflicting motivations and tacit power differentials may allow undetectable and infectious incivility, and while there are research tools to measure experience, there are few effective practical campus-based strategies to monitor these issues. The authors explore mobbing through the lenses of epidemiology, public health, and organizational psychology. As part of this exploration the terms “mobbable” and “mobbability” are proposed, connoting the degree of incivility tolerated in the workplace climate, people's and institution's vulnerabilities, and the potential for improved capacity surrounding mobbing prevention. Outlining a story of academic mobbing, the chapter highlights contributing factors at both personal and organizational levels. The authors close with practical suggestions for recognizing symptoms and opportunities.

Bullied by the Best

As the prevalence of academic mobbing gains increasing notice, the concept is almost always framed in terms of bullying perpetrated by a group of “bullies.” While mobbing is seemingly bullying writ large, upon closer examination bullying and mobbing are very different forms of aggression. In this chapter, the author discusses how the prevailing bully paradigm has conflated bullying with mobbing, and why doing so is problematic. By focusing on the behavior of animals, she shows how signs of submission and/or domination can end or escalate the aggression, attract others to join in, and cause leaders to ignore or encourage the abuse. She then turns to the ways in which workplace aggression has been cast in moral terms of bullies and powerless victims, while failing to account for the complexity and nuance of workplace aggression, as well as the role of the victim. Finally, she discusses the organizational context of the university, suggesting that there are specific features of the academy that make it ripe for mobbing.

Overcoming the Onslaught

This chapter seeks to explore and examine the phenomenon known as mobbing and more specifically academic mobbing. First, a brief introduction to bullying at the workplace as well as mobbing ensues. Second, the definitions of mobbing and academic mobbing as well as clear descriptions are delineated. Third, various topics surrounding academic mobbing are introduced such; the phases of mobbing, a description of the bully, a description of the “mobbers,” a description of the bystanders and a description of the target. Other topics are introduced as well such as statistics that surround the phenomenon of mobbing at the workplace as well as workplace engagement results of academic mobbing. Then the methodology is introduced. This research study is qualitative in nature. An autoethnography is utilized and the data is seen through a constructivist/interpretivist lens. The author than introduces her experience via narrative form, which is followed by a discussion and conclusion, limitations of the study, recommendations for future research, and a statement of conflict.

Sins of a Syndicate

This chapter presents a fictitious and satirical story, which explores how individuals and groups of privilege in a university structure exert their power (through intimidation and other oppressive actions) on targeted individuals who are perceived as challenging or disruptive to the power group's existing control. The story is presented as an allegory of the 1920-1940's mafia.

My Campus Administration, Faculty Association, Senate, and Me

This chapter recounts recent experiences of the author with the University of British Columbia (UBC), its Faculty Association (FA), this association's relationship with the author's campus administration at UBC Okanagan campus (UBCO), and the relationship of the campus administration with the senate of the campus. The chapter is a case study of academic mobbing. The author's targeting, exclusion, and ostracism is fully documented in the chapter and fully explained by the concepts of academic bullying, harassment, and mobbing. It is a case study of where an elected union representative of faculty members and an elected senator was targeted, excluded, and ostracized by the powers that be in the union and university administration, working in collusion and complicity.

A Remedy for Improving the Culture in Higher Education

The purpose of this chapter is to examine how servant-centered leadership should align with the values of higher education institutions than other forms of leadership. Servant leadership follows a value system, ethical philosophy, rather than a standard set of leadership practices. This chapter explores adult education and leadership-power philosophies, the historical perspective of leadership and management, followed by literature of servant leadership and toxic leadership. In addition, crises of higher education were discussed as well as the need to remedy a toxic culture toward servant-centered environment and that institutions of higher education must be the proactive educators. The researchers concluded that in order for an academic institution to thrive, the utilization and implementation of servant-centered leadership is paramount. It is also equally critical to teach students the philosophy of servant leadership so they in turn can give back to their communities.

Narcissistic and Sociopathic Leadership and the World of Higher Education

This chapter was designed to explore mobbing and bullying within higher education. This chapter per the researchers revealed the theoretical framework, the schema of people making versus bullying and mobbing, as well as differentiating between bullying and mobbing. Moreover, an array of examples of types of dark leadership and toxicity was provided. Furthermore, the researchers felt it was imperative to include the organizational culture applied to bullying and mobbing, in addition to the emphasis of counterproductive behavior. Also, the physiological and psychological impact on individuals under that leadership was provided as well as bullying and mobbing case studies. Preventative measures of bullying and mobbing within all levels was discussed and included a solution such as the TSTL survey created by Dr. David B. Ross. Lastly, a conclusion was provided.

The Role of Passive Evil in Perpetuating Downward Academic Mobbing

Downward academic mobbing occurs when unethical administrators initiate a pattern of bullying, intimidation, and the commission of personal and career damage on undeserving faculty members (most often principled, tenured professors who question their decisions or call attention to unethical behavior such as policy violations and lack of academic due process). Once these unethical administrators succeed in framing a faculty victim as a target (often through innuendo, factual distortions, or outright lies), the victim's colleagues—many of whom have known and benefited from the victim for years—either fail to support the victim (a problem known as passive evil) or begin actively participating in the persecution themselves (often in pursuit of personal gain). The purpose of this chapter is to focus on the first instance (i.e., passive evil), and to discuss how passive evildoers' failure to stand up for victims of downward academic mobbing effectively encourages future acts of persecution—including against the passive evildoers themselves.