“The Lotus Flower Blooms in the Mud”: Female Faculty Members’ Stories of Bullying Experiences in R1 Universities in the Southeastern United States

Gender inequities and oppression are factors that put female faculty members at higher risk of being targets of bullying, and gender was found relevant when women suffered well-being consequences, including poor health outcomes, and with greater severity than men as a consequence of bullying in the academy. A critical feminist approach is the frame for this narrative inquiry, to promote participant voice through critical conversation and democratic discourse. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the stories of female faculty members' experiences of being bullied in R1 institutions in the Southeastern United States. In particular, this research will focus on women's experiences as targets of bullying, their well-being, and their strategies to cope with bullying. The research questions that will guide this study are: (a) What narrative do female faculty members tell about their experiences of being bullied in R1 institutions of U.S. higher education?; (b) What narrative do female faculty members tell about their well-being, based on their experiences of being bullied at R1 institutions of U.S. higher education?; and (c) What strategies do female faculty members who are targets of bullying use to survive in R1 institutions of U.S. higher education? Three major themes emerged: (a) Pecked to Death; (b) “Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts”: Consequences of Academic Bullying; and (c) “The Lotus Flower Blooms in the Mud”: Coping and Surviving Academic Bullying. The study concludes with a discussion of implications for practice, policy, and research in the fields of higher education and adult learning.

Keywords: workplace bullying, academic bullying, women, narrative inquiry, well-being