Impacts of Mentorship in the Context of Intragender Workplace Aggression

• In Event: 47.086 - Fusing Mentoring Frameworks: A Critical Praxis to Affirm Women's Endeavours in a Post-Truth Era

Abstract

Objectives
This literature review summarizes international research on workplace aggression with particular focus on those studies investigating woman > woman workplace aggression in institutions of higher education (IHEs). IHEs continue to struggle with recruitment and retention of women faculty in academia and fail to provide adequate mentorship (Ke, Thorsos, & Kern, 2016). Despite rhetoric to the contrary, the current climate in this post-truth era continue to present challenges to women in academia (Ke, Thorsos, & Kern, 2016).

Perspective or Theoretical framework:
Workplace aggression has been a significant source of concern for several decades. Beginning with Brodsky’s (1977) groundbreaking work on workplace aggression and its consequences, research on this social phenomenon has increased in accordance with the unsettling rise in acts of aggression and violence in the workplace. This steep rise in workplace aggression prompted Williams (2011) to refer to this phenomenon as the “Silent epidemic”. Though much attention has been devoted to workplace aggression between and among women in the popular media (Cooper, 2016; Khazan, 2017; States News Service, 2017), there is still a lack of peer-reviewed research on woman > woman workplace aggression, particularly when it occurs in IHE settings. In addition, the role of women > women mentorship needs to be explored as a counterpoise to intragender workplace aggression.

Methods, Data, and Analysis
This paper is an extensive literature review that examines the scope and impact of intra-gender aggression in the workplace, especially as it occurs in IHEs. The authors of this review initially used the term “women” and “workplace aggression” and “higher education” in a Boolean phrase search within three of the most popular databases of peer-reviewed research in education and social sciences. The search included peer-reviewed books, journal articles, and dissertations written between 1980 - 2018. Dissertations and peer-reviewed articles were reviewed and organized according to common trends (e.g., directionality, indirect vs. direct), and outcomes of women experiencing workplace aggression from other women in higher education. A Delphi method (Linstone, & Turoff, 1975) was used to arrive at a group position regarding the topic under investigation.

Results and Significance

The research indicates that acts of workplace aggression between women faculty and administration in higher education are similar to those found in other workplace settings. This review only yielded a handful of peer-reviewed studies (exclusively case studies and dissertations) which focused on intragender aggression in higher education. This, despite many anecdotal reports in the literature, implies that there is a “gag rule” about the hazing of women by women in the halls of academia. Finally, the research reviewed suggest that male-dominated institutional practices discourage women from advancing in higher education. These practices are so ingrained in the culture that women (and men) fail to realize their pervasive effects between and among same-gender colleagues in university/college settings. In this post-truth era, this research has implications for examining the role of women mentorship in IHEs, and provides opportunities to identify and offset events of aggression. Suggested next steps for expanding this body of research are discussed.

Authors

• Susan Porter, National University

• Dina Castillo Pacis, National University San Diego

• Nilsa J. Thorsos, National University