The global inclusivity
report 2022
Bullying & discrimination in academia
Inclusivity is important to most academics (78% as shown on previous page), yet we know from previous research that many experience discrimination in their workplaces. To understand the extent of these issues, we introduced a new question asking academics if they had personally experienced bullying, harassment, discrimination, microaggressions or another form not listed.
On this page
Most experiences are subtle
We found that academics experience a wide range of discrimination and other anti-inclusive behaviours. Most common are verbal microaggressions (32%), behavioural microaggressions (29%) and psychological harassment (28%), followed by gender discrimination and age discrimination (27%). Over a quarter of academics have experienced verbal bullying.
Almost a third of academics experience discrimination & other anti-inclusive behaviours
Experiences include verbal microaggressions (32%), behavioural microaggressions (29%) and psychological harassment (28%). Worse affected are Australasian academics, around 50% say they have experienced the top three (note sample size limitations).
More women than men
Forty six percent of women versus 15% of men have experienced gender discrimination, 38% of women versus 29% of men for verbal microaggressions, and 34% of women versus 25% of men for behavioural microaggressions. Continuing the trend, men are more likely to say they have not had any experiences – 31% compared to 19% of women.
Indigenous researchers suffer more racism
Almost twice as many Indigenous researchers than non-Indigenous researchers experience racial discrimination (29% versus 15%).
One in four haven't been bullied
Just over a quarter (26%) overall have never experienced any of the bullying or discrimination listed or named any another. This rises to 37% in Asia, with a low of 15% in Australasia.
Problems working in academia
Question 4: Which of the following have you experienced when working in academia? Please select all that apply and use the ‘other’ option to describe any new options you may want to include. Note: this table is split into two.
| Area, percentage of times chosen | 2022 | North America | Latin America | N&W Europe & UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verbal microaggressions | 32.3% | 42.4% | 26.7% | 44.1% |
| Behavioural microaggressions | 29.1% | 32.9% | 26.7% | 29.7% |
| Psychological harassment | 28.2% | 29.8% | 17.8% | 29.7% |
| Gender discrimination | 28.0% | 32.9% | 28.9% | 29.7% |
| Age discrimination | 27.4% | 30.4% | 31.1% | 35.1% |
| Verbal bullying | 27.4% | 35.4% | 20.0% | 30.6% |
| Social bullying | 23.3% | 28.5% | 13.3% | 25.2% |
| Racial discrimination | 17.9% | 17.7% | 13.3% | 18.9% |
| Religious discrimination | 10.6% | 14.6% | 8.9% | 5.4% |
| Sexual harassment | 8.9% | 15.8% | 11.1% | 14.4% |
| Cyberbullying | 7.2% | 7.6% | 4.4% | 6.3% |
| Sexual orientation discrimination | 6.5% | 7.6% | 6.7% | 4.5% |
| Disability discrimination | 6.0% | 8.2% | 2.2% | 7.2% |
| Pregnancy discrimination | 6.0% | 6.3% | 8.9% | 6.3% |
| Physical microaggressions | 5.0% | 6.3% | 2.2% | 6.3% |
| Physical harassment | 5.0% | 5.7% | 4.4% | 2.7% |
| Other | 8.8% | 14.6% | 6.7% | 12.6% |
| I have experienced none of the above | 25.8% | 21.5% | 28.9% | 21.6% |
| Area, percentage of times chosen | Middle East & Africa | S & E Europe | Australasia | Asia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verbal microaggressions | 23.6% | 33.3% | 51.3% | 20.3% |
| Behavioural microaggressions | 28.2% | 28.8% | 51.3% | 18.7% |
| Psychological harassment | 27.6% | 26.5% | 48.7% | 22.0% |
| Gender discrimination | 21.3% | 37.1% | 36.8% | 19.8% |
| Age discrimination | 26.4% | 24.2% | 30.3% | 25.8% |
| Verbal bullying | 24.7% | 28.0% | 40.8% | 18.1% |
| Social bullying | 19.0% | 28.8% | 32.9% | 18.7% |
| Racial discrimination | 24.7% | 8.3% | 22.4% | 17.0% |
| Religious discrimination | 16.1% | 6.8% | 11.8% | 9.3% |
| Sexual harassment | 6.3% | 4.6% | 17.1% | 4.4% |
| Cyberbullying | 8.1% | 6.1% | 10.5% | 7.1% |
| Sexual orientation discrimination | 5.8% | 6.1% | 11.8% | 5.5% |
| Disability discrimination | 5.2% | 7.6% | 7.9% | 3.3% |
| Pregnancy discrimination | 1.2% | 9.9% | 10.5% | 5.0% |
| Physical microaggressions | 5.2% | 3.8% | 7.9% | 3.9% |
| Physical harassment | 7.5% | 3.0% | 6.6% | 5.5% |
| Other | 2.9% | 5.3% | 15.8% | 7.1% |
| I have experienced none of the above | 29.3% | 22.7% | 14.5% | 36.8% |
"The discrimination in terms of career development, pay, promotion, etc. are ridiculous. I stay in spite of this as I'm committed to the research work. The binary treatment of staff in universities drives good researchers away." Woman researcher in Australia
"Pretty sad. Never completed a list like this! Knew I had some of them but not soooooo many. Academia sucks when it comes to DEI." Woman academic in USA
"It is not widespread but microaggressions and verbal bullying are new behaviours that undermine in subtle ways capability subtlety." Man academic in Australia
"Being ostracised and marginalised." Demographic data not provided
"Sort of inert attitude by colleagues when they saw you progressing...Regional...and religious bias apparent." Man academic in India
"Power and intimidation by senior faculty." Woman academic in USA
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