Through the Doors and Out: Bullying in the Workplace

Workplace bullying can be found at any established employment environment where an employee is repeatedly harassed by either coworkers or bosses through verbal and psychological abuse.

Bullying at workplaces can include spreading false rumours, insulting comments and excluding people from groups. Dr. Wael Wahba, a consultant clinical psychologist, believes that workplace bullying can occur due to several reasons.

“Work environments often lack clear job descriptions, resulting in people assuming that they are assigned to a specific job, and when two people appoint themselves to one job, they proceed to clash and the more aggressive member attacks the other,” said Wahba.

A 2017 US Workplace Bullying Survey in association with the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees found that 60.3 million U.S. workers are affected by workplace bullying.

However, the survey data showed that bullying doesn’t only happen between employer (managers and supervisors) and employee, but also between workplace peers.

In a workplace, there is often a member of the group that strives to dominate others, and they decide to pick on someone who is perceived to be weaker.

The UK-based Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), defines bullying and harassment as “any unwanted behaviour that makes someone feel intimidated, degraded, humiliated or offended. It is not necessarily always obvious or apparent to others, and may happen in the workplace without an employer’s awareness.”

A teacher who was recently hired at a school in Cairo quickly came to learn that she would not be given a warm welcome by her peers.

“During my stay there, they would openly call me names whenever I was at close distance because they decided that I was somehow trying to beat them in some competition as the most favored teacher even though there shouldn’t be a competition to begin with,” said SH.

She eventually quit.

A professor who goes by the initials CN experienced bullying when she was a fresh graduate.

“I was ostracized because I was the only woman in a male-oriented field, and I had to struggle to speak for my rights by proving my vitality as a coworker,” said CN.

In such environments, when an employee is given a position they are not qualified for, they are bullied and berated for their inadequate educational background.

A 2008 research of workplace bullying by the University of Phoenix has shown that 75 percent of employees surveyed had been affected by workplace bullying.

AUC graduates are not spared from such harassment brought on by a combination of being the newest member of a work group and social class tensions.

AUC graduates are often bullied due to other members of society viewing them as rich, spoiled, and spoon fed through their parents’ bank accounts and connections.

An AUC graduate who found work as a researcher said she was discriminated against because of her academic background.

“I once had a co-worker tell me upfront that AUCians such as myself are lazy and don’t put any effort into our work. The manager of my job also chose people with less experience over me,” said MEK.

Another graduate, RE, has admitted that a colleague at work resented her because of her AUC education.

“The guy would ignore me and never say hi or smile at me. One day, during our break, he told me that he wishes he was an AUC graduate so he could get a better and higher position than me and others in the company,” said RE.

Another graduate, KA, thinks he was indirectly bullied.

“I tend to keep my background a secret because I don’t want to form a divide between me and people. When some coworkers find out I’m an AUC graduate, they tend to give me [dirty looks], and I had to get used to it,” said KA.

However, Professor Abd Alhak, Psychology professor and Adjunct MA affiliate instructor, believes that the bullying AUC graduates face is no different than what other employees may endure.

“I think it’s controversial to say that AUC graduates get bullied in special fashion, because it almost seems as if they are bullied for entirely different reasons than other employees,” said Abd Alhak.

She said there have been cases where AUC graduates actually applied for jobs and proceeded to present themselves as intellectually superior to even the people hiring them.

Nevertheless, some define bullying to mean a perception that someone is being singled out for unfair treatment. If AUCians feel they are being singled out for repeated mocking or ridicule by their employers or peers because of their background, then that is more than likely a form of bullying.

Abd Al Hak says that more needs to be done to combat workplace bullying.

The first step is for society to take responsibility, raise awareness of workplace bullying and take effective measures to curb its damaging effects on employees.

The first step is education to help recognize workplace bullying and its adverse effects on performance and the state of mental health of the employees.

“It’s important to make an ethos in schools and workplaces to teach people that bullying will not be tolerated, and that there should be a cost for bullies perpetuating what is essentially a crime,” said Abd Alhak.