Workplace bullying in postgraduate courses: The consequences experienced by teachers and students of a Brazilian state university

Abstract

Postgraduate courses provide a fertile ground for the occurrence of workplace bullying, since both teachers and students are usually overwhelmed by stressful demands and pressure, constant seek for productivism, high competitiveness, and vanity. Therefore, the consequences of this demanding environment can be even more severe, affecting health, work, studies and the private life of the professional. Thus, this article aims to identify the consequences of workplace bullying in students and teachers from stricto sensu postgraduate courses in a Brazilian state university. This research was a descriptive case study, and used a mixed approach. Data was collected through an online questionnaire (126 answers) and follow-up interviews (7), which were analyzed through content analysis technique. As a result, it was possible to perceive that there were consequences to mental health (anger, anxiety, low self-esteem, depression), physical health (loss of hair, weight gain, trembling), relational/affective (withdrawal/loss of friends, marital conflict), and work/study (disappointment with academia, increased workload, willingness to drop out of the postgraduate course). The findings indicate that the topic should be further investigated due to its destructive nature. Furthermore, the study suggests the elaboration of effective actions to prevent and combat workplace bullying.