Abstract:

Research relevance and problem: The authors state that although much research has been done on workplace aggression and bullying over the past two decades, academics have paid relatively little attention to bullying in their own institutions. In this article, we discuss what is currently known about bullying in academia, with a particular focus on faculty behaviour, and apply empirical and conceptual findings from research on aggression and bullying in other work settings and the significant literature on conflict management in higher education. We begin by describing the nature and prevalence of aggression and bullying in higher education. In recent years a lot of researches have been performed; however, they orient to narrow specific-professional fields.
Aim of the research: Having performed the analysis of researches on bullying on ethics discourse at higher education institutions, to define directions of new researches that make the possibility to expand the preparation of specialists in different fields of bullying crises emerging in work environment. In order to find the answer to the set research problem and to attain the research aim the following objectives are formulated: to perform analysis researches on bullying in ethics discourse at higher education institutions; to identify new research directions creating the possibility to expand preparation of specialists in different fields of crises emerging in work environment.
Conclusions: Though in the latter years researches on bullying intensify, knowledge about dissemination and particularity of the phenomenon at higher education institutions as well as how to manage possible crises of employees’ interrelationship on specialists’ training is limited enough. Several directions of researches on bullying in higher education should be distinguished. Firstly, it is necessary to evaluate social and cultural conditions of the actions, which can be accepted as ethical or unethical. More comprehensive and broader ethical context of actions’ evaluation can create conditions to reduce possibilities to interpret negative actions in the cases of bulling and bullying. Secondly, one of the methods has been still applied in researches performed, namely: qualitative and quantitative; thus the application of several different methods can help not only to state the spread of the phenomenon but also to explain deep reasons as well as to distinguish the particularity of actions, relationship of individual and organizational conditions. In addition, considering the particularity of institutions’ activity, it is important to evaluate outcomes of bullying upon the activity – both of research and influence upon study processes and training of future specialists. In this context students should be involved as concerned subjects. Thirdly, more comprehensive researches and discussion how bullying reflects / should reflect in study programmes of different professions in the context of ethics should be performed. In this case both study programmes and the competence acquired by the specialists who graduated from the studies realized in the workplace should reflect this.

Keywords:

bullying, ethics, ethical dysfunction, higher education institutions, training of professionals