Revista de Investigaciones Universidad del Quindío,

33(2), 97-108; 2021.

ISSN: 1794-631X e-ISSN: 2500-5782


Esta obra está bajo una licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 4.0 Internacional.


Cómo citar:

Ince-Yenilmez, Meltem. (2021). The problem of academic gender mobbing in Turkish Universities. Revista de Investigaciones Universidad del Quindío, 33(2), 97-108. https://doi.org/10.33975/riuq.vol33n2.544


THE PROBLEM OF ACADEMIC GENDER MOBBING IN TURKISH UNIVERSITIES


EL PROBLEMA DEL ACOSO ACADÉMICO DE GÉNERO EN LAS UNIVERSIDADES TURCAS



Meltem Ince-Yenilmez 1 * .


1. Izmir Democracy University, Turquia. meltem.inceyenilmez@idu.edu.tr


*Corresponding author: Meltem Ince-Yenilmez, email: meltem.inceyenilmez@idu.edu.tr



Información del artículo:

Recibido: 7 mayo 2021; Aceptado: 20 agosto 2021


ABSTRACT


The issue of academic mobbing is growing at an alarming rate in Turkish universities. This is a negative practice whereby outspoken and ethical scholars are attacked. These scholars are always kicking against bad practices in society. They possess knowledge that most people consider intimidating. These actions are usually initiated by their lesser administrators and colleagues. Based on this, it is crucial to know how this problem starts and deteriorates among colleagues. This research study will be aiming to determine mobbing behavior prevalence as exposed by superiors, the dean and heads of departments. Various subtopics will be analyzed and discussed in this paper like faculty outcomes, ethics, and envy twinge. These are all related to rectors, university presidents, provosts, department chairs, deans, policymakers, academic leaders, researchers, academicians, and many others.


Keywords: Gender; mobbing; turkish academic environment; workplace problems.


RESUMEN


El problema del acoso escolar está creciendo a un ritmo alarmante en las universidades turcas. Ésta es una práctica negativa por la que se ataca a los eruditos éticos y abiertos. Estos académicos siempre están criticando las malas prácticas en la sociedad. Poseen conocimientos que la mayoría de la gente considera intimidantes. Estas acciones generalmente las inician sus administradores y colegas menores. En base a esto, es fundamental saber cómo se inicia y se agrava este problema entre los compañeros. Este estudio de investigación tendrá como objetivo determinar la prevalencia del comportamiento de acoso escolar según lo expuesto por los superiores, el decano y los jefes de departamento. En este artículo se analizarán y discutirán varios subtemas como los resultados de la facultad, la ética y la punzada de envidia. Todos ellos están relacionados con rectores, rectores de universidades, rectores, jefes de departamento, decanos, legisladores, líderes académicos, investigadores, académicos y muchos otros.


Keywords: género; mobbing; entorno académico turco; problemas en el lugar de trabajo.


Introduction


There are behaviors and norms which guide human relations in the society. Based on this, it can be said that our working environment contains some properties and characteristics which influence job satisfaction, performance and behavior to a great extent (Nares et et al., 2014). Generally speaking, when these conditions are complied with, such can bring about a working environment/surrounding that is healthy. This can lead to increase in productivity as well as employee welfare (Barrios and Paravic, 2006). This is how social relations has become very important within the working environment. They make up the public sphere which is quite different as compared to others. The reason is because members don’t only share common tasks but also objectives (Tonon, 2012). It is an interpersonal interaction which uses a principle of communication that entails the transmitting of consequent ideas according to Nares et al. (2014). With a healthy working environment, workers are more productive. Also, there is improvement in their interpersonal relations and well-being Barrios and Paravic, (2006). Conversely, accumulation of stress will become the results for a working environment which doesn’t comply with such characteristics. This will further affect the health workers in such surrounding (Gómez, 2009; Mihyun et al., 2014).


When a work environment is not healthy, one of its most obvious symptoms is stress. This is usually experienced as a result of hostile stimuli. In such case, there is usually the generation of a negative attitude like mobbing or harassment (Gómez, 2009). Specifically speaking, there are characteristics which usually vary according to individuals. This has made it quite difficult for the environment to be clearly defined (Bowling and Beehr, 2006). When the work environment is harmful, working conditions are likely to deteriorate. This problem usually brings about psychological discomfort, psychosomatic manifestations and harassing behaviors (Anjum et al., 2018; Gómez, 2009). With regards to the working environment in universities, a problem like this can bring about reduction in productivity amongst both academic and non-academic staff. These could be coordinators, teachers and prefects and others (Balducci et al., 2012).


General Discussion on Mobbing


Mobbing can be categorized amongst psychological violence that is usually experienced in workplaces that are not organized. In this form of violence, successful and creative individuals are the victims. It is a very destructive violence which affects an entire society regardless of educational level, title, language, race, or age (Leymann, 1996). In recent times, mobbing is now viewed as a crucial part of everyday life. In private and public sectors, it is seen as a potential risk factor both from health and occupational perspectives. It is an intimidating behavior that is intentional and systematic which is exerted on someone by a group of individuals within a system where there seems to be hierarchy of positions (Einersan and Skogstad, 1996). There are two major factors which determine mobbing behavior – frequency and consistency. For a behavior to be categorized as mobbing, repetition is crucial. In other words, it will need to be repeated minimum of once every week within a period of 6months (Lutgen-Sandvik et al., 2007). Mobbing still has some vital aspects like social status, social relationships, quality of professional and private life, effect of such assaults on the victim, the extent of damage that has been caused, persistence in behavior and assaults that target health.


Mobbing is a situation whereby an individual is being targeted within a university or organization. In such case, the individual is subjected to some humiliating as well as abusive behaviors. Such actions are meant to make others form negative opinions about the victims. In this instance, people will start suspecting their worth/value within the society (Hoel et al., 1999). This will end up having the victims emotionally destabilized. Most of the time, victims of such actions may decide to resign honorably from their organizations. It is a traumatizing problem which brings about consequences that are negative. There are cases when some have deteriorated into poor health conditions. Most of the time, colleagues may want to claim that mobbing is about one individual being singled out from others for intimidation. However, the end goal is always apparent which is tarnishing the image of their victims. There are variations as to the presence of academic involvement and group dynamics (Davenport et al., 2003). Understanding mobbing will require more than looking at the framework that is based on individual psychopathology. Despite psychopathology being present, group as well as organization dynamics are based on how mobbing seem to be more critical. How individuals respond to mobbing varies to a great extent. This has to do with the rate at which they are vulnerable to injury (Matthiesen and Einarsen, 2004). Resilience is also another factor that should be taken into consideration in such regards.


Although victims of mobbing usually suffer problems like loss of self-confidence, self-respect, and social prestige, there are worst case scenarios when they experienced severe damages (long term). The institutional structure and environment are risk of also being damaged. Mobbing also has another social implication. These could be increment in economic cost as a result of work as well as safety loss, decrease in productivity, workdays that have been lost, decrease in the quality of work, early retirement, unemployment, and many others. It is possible for mobbing to be horizontal and vertical (Tınaz, 2006; Hirigoyen, 2000). In the case of vertical mobbing, psychological violence is from top executives to junior workers. It can also be from junior workers to senior members of staff. Most of the time, mobbing is being inflicted by workers on their junior colleagues. It is used as a tool to ensure working continuously within such environment without any opposition (Davenport et al., 2003). Mobbing that takes place between colleagues that are in similar ranks (positions or level) is horizontal. Those inflicting the mobbing could be friends in the workplace. They are occupying the same positions (Tetik, 2010). Research studies about mobbing can be traced to 1990 in Europe and America. Amongst all of these investigations, the major development has been establishment of mobbing clinic in Germany in the year 1992. A book was written by Westhues (2004) on university intimation. In Turkey on the other hand, people were allowed to discuss the topic at various levels in 2000. There has been increase in empirical studies carried out about mobbing in recent times (Palaz et al., 2008) Most of the time, mobbing behavior is targeted towards people who are creative and qualified (Leymann, 1996). Also, it has been discovered to usually occur in university environments. This is true of universities that adopt management styles which are authoritarian (Kingma, 2001). Amongst academicians, there are factors which have promoted the practice of mobbing. These are precarious work conditions, Structure/hierarchy within the work environment, competition amongst staff, unjust success evaluation, competition for academic positions, and powers conferred on managers by the law. When there is a huge gap between managers and subordinates with regards to how powers are shared, such can bring about mobbing (Yildirim and Yildirim, 2010). When academicians begin to suffocate under such authority from managers, they will begin to come up with ideas that initiate mobbing. Most of the time, they may even start seeing such acts as part of the profession. In this instance, the workplace will become all about survival of the fittest. Workers who can’t get involved in such practice will eventually become victims (Acik et al., 2008). Einersan (1996) explained that there is usually high and unhealthy competition in surroundings that contain workers who are highly educated and exposed. In a bid to become more popular, there is competition. This is because everybody wants to improve their chances of being promoted and making progress. This finally brings about a situation whereby they will begin to engage in mobbing against one another. Mobbing in most countries is viewed as a form of violence. Workers exposed to this practice in UK and Denmark are 53% and 18% respectively (Tınaz, 2006). According to Lewis, UK academicians who are vulnerable to direct mobbing is about 18%. The health sector is where psychological violence seems to be more pronounced. Verbal violence has been recorded to be around 43%-73% in China, Hong Kong and UK. A 2020 report released by ICN, ILO, and WHO revealed that between 27%-67% of workers in health sectors are exposed to verbal violence. In a place like Turkey, mobbing isn’t analyzed in universities but industrial workplaces. Based on this, it can be said that information about mobbing in Turkish universities is inadequate. Mobbing rates revealed in Turkey tend to be same as those discovered in other countries. Given these studies, it can be deduced that the rate of mobbing in Turkey is about 42%. About 70% of people who have been affected did not disclose their problems to anybody (Turkish Parliament Comission Report, 2011). Conversely, limited studies have been carried out in Turkey universities revealing that about 29% of academicians have experienced direct mobbing in recent times (ILO, 2002; Baskan and Cevik, 2010).


In order to fight against the problem of mobbing including all of its implications, there are two major decisions that need to be taken. These are improving standards of workplaces and prevention of social exclusion. For academic life that is honorable and guaranteed to be established, it is important for personnel to be enlightened on the standards and culture of such institution. They should also know about mobbing including its implications on the institution. Also, defense strategies that are active should be adopted in evaluation of academic advancement criteria. Furthermore, ethical principles should always be prioritized. Finally, skills of managers on communication and conflicts need to be improved (Isık, 2007).


Causes, Processes and Implications of Mobbing


According to Meier (2009), the most obvious and critical aspect has been inadequate organizations conditions. This problem has succeeded in giving birth to mobbing in universities. There has also been the issue of unethical practices within the system. All of these have brought about immoral behavior. Apart from these causes, there is also cooperate culture and working environment which are products of moral foundations as explained by VÚBP, (2007). According to European Agency for Safety & Health at Work, some of the causes of mobbing include:



Causes as well as consequences of mobbing are pointed out. As shown, it is obvious that this problem is caused by some complex factors. They don’t just act but also overlap onto one another. The major causes can be traced to four factors or elements – social system, the organization, the mobber including his object. All of these have brought about the formation of mobbing in universities. Initially, it looks like the victims are naturally labile, pessimistic, and passive. However, it seems to be a different situation altogether. For instance, the victim of the mobber may be someone who is very active while discharging his or her duties at work. He isn’t short of confidence either. All of these qualities can attract mobbing within the workplace as explained by Kratz (2010). Another reason is competition threat. Getting a better job as well as envy are potential reasons. It is even possible for the motive to be pleasure of watching others suffering emotional torture. It can also be due to inferiority complex.


In a situation when there seems to be factors already which lead to mobbing, there is every reason to believe that such is only a process that is not just in progress but also includes various steps. It brings about a system whereby victims are exposed to negative treatment. According to literature, the formation phases for mobbing are numerous (Hubinková, 2008). However, each phase tends to have the same view as the other. According to Leyman (1993), mobbing has 5 different stages. On the other hand, Kallwass (2007) claimed it was 4. These are explained below:


Stage One – In this stage, mobbing is said to commence through unresolved conflict. In other words, the mobber as well as victim will have issues that will linger on.

Stage Two – The attacks begin to deepen and intensify. The victim begins to feel some mental pressure. He will be seen as an “outsider”.

Stage Three – This is the penultimate stage. It is a situation whereby the victim will begin to feel more stress from the mobber. Due to how the problem has escalated, he will begin to commit unnecessary errors. This makes him vulnerable to continued criticisms especially from people above.

Stage Four – This is the last stage and it will usually generate into the victim resigning from his role or position as explained by Kallwass (2007). She revealed that resignation is the highest point of mobbing. At such point, the victim doesn’t see any reason of working in such position again. There are worst case scenarios where the victim will leave such company for another one.


At this point, it is very crucial to point out that there are effects of such action. These could be social isolation, verbal or physical abuse, aggression and more. According to Zapf (1999), some effects of mobbing are depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsession, anxiety, or psychosomatic discomfort. He also claimed that negative effects like these only highlight the fact that mobbing is a serious problem that go beyond people suffering verbal and physical abuses in organizations. It is like a vicious circle and the only solution or way out is giving prior notice. According to Pauknerová (2006), mobbing has consequences or implications which can be divided into two categories. Firstly, there is the psychological implication which brings about low level of concentration and focus of victims. They are prone to problems such as depression and anxiety. Health conditions such as indigestion, headaches, heart dysfunction and others are what victims can suffer due to mobbing. The second category of mobbing implication is economic effects. For instance, performances and productivity of employees are likely to reduce (Pauknerová, 2006). Generally speaking, it is fair enough to conclude that mobbing doesn’t just affect one person. Instead, it is a negative practice that can affect an entire organization. Thus, the organization won’t function as expected again.


Various Forms of Mobbing Including Factors Which Influence Productivity/Work Performance


Management is one major factor which can be said to have great influence on mobbing behavior in work environments. For instance, it is likely to exist in organizations where there seems to be an authoritarian management style in place. Another instance that can bring about its existence is when there are too many people trying to apply for one single position. This brings about high competition amongst workers. The end result is always high tensions being created within the work environments where some workers will finally become victims. Such can lead to unhealthy competition amongst workers in order to secure the job. Most of the time, mobbing victims are fresh graduates without adequate work experience. Due to this, there are employees who would want to take advantage of them. During such process, they will become victims of older workers. Mobbing behavior in workplaces can take place in various forms according to Horváth, (2001). These will be explained below:


Gossiping – This means a worker providing wrong information about his or her colleague. The aim is to gain promotion at the expense of such worker. This isn’t directly considered as a form of mobbing though (Horváth, 2001). Most of the time, those gossiping would usually want to claim the information they are sending out about their colleagues is true.

Mockery – This is a situation when one is being ridiculed by his or her colleagues. It could be their physical appearance, personal character, way of dressing, hairstyle or something else.

Co-workers isolation – This is a situation whereby other workers may decide to isolate themselves from a particular worker for one reason or another. This mobbing behavior is not created by words unlike the ones mentioned above. Instead, it comes into existence by actions. The employee will be isolated deliberately by others. This can lead to feelings of inferiority complex with the passage of time when not addressed.

Withholding of crucial information – When this happens, the mobber plans to create situations that are stressful. It brings about colleagues feeling unnecessary tension within the workplace since they have been deprived of the right information. In this case, the mobber is attempting to create a picture where his or her victims will be considered as incompetent for the job. The end result is basically all about having his position consolidated.

Administrative and operational measures – This is adopted by superiors in the workplace. It is a situation whereby workers are being assigned to roles they are not qualified to handle by their superiors. The end result is always frustration which can lead to resignation. This is because the employee will not be as productive as expected.

Excessive workload – In this form of mobbing behavior, victims are given tasks that make little or no sense to handle. It could be difficult tasks that are beyond their knowledge and capabilities. The aim is to have them frustrated towards continuing with the job.

Excessive criticism – This happens when an employee is singled out amongst others by his or her superior for criticism. Even if the employee’s performances are better than those of other workers, he will still be criticized. With time, he will begin to lose self-confidence. His productivity level will reduce drastically.

Sexual harassment – Women are mainly the major targets for this form of mobbing behavior. At this point, there is need to differentiate between sexual harassment and compliments. This mobbing behavior usually takes place in different forms like sexual proposals, gossiping, conative and many others.


All of these forms of mobbing behavior mentioned above are the most popular which can be experienced in different working environments. As a result of physical punishment which are meted out to workers for involving in physical attacks within the workplace, such acts rarely occur. Most of the time, workers who are targeted by mobbers don’t know there is something wrong. There are many who have been working with such issues for years. A problem like this will not only bring about low level of productivity. In addition to such, it can lead to poor physical as well as emotional state. A study conducted in Germany revealed that over 98% of people who experience one form of mobbing behavior or another usually suffer from various health conditions. About 50% of such population had health issues with 15% ending up committing suicide according to Sloan (2010). In order to find out whether you are a victim of this problem, it is required to begin by looking at the position you are currently occupying. After that, check whether you have been going through any challenge that is abnormal over the past years, months or weeks. When you are experiencing this problem, reaching an objective judgment or assessment is difficult. This is usually true when the worker or employee is under immense pressure psychologically. His judgments in such instances are quite biased. Before considering how this problem can be resolved with superiors, it is very crucial to be sure one is a victim. The working environment may not be the best but that doesn’t mean someone is a victim of mobbing. There are certain instances that can bring about tensions within the workplace. However, this doesn’t mean there is mobbing behavior existing. A typical example is when internal regulations have been breached by a worker. This is likely to bring about sanctions from superiors. The bottom line is that not every negative behavior within the workplace can be labelled as mobbing (Svobodová, 2008).


In Turkey, studies have been conducted on mobbing. However, most of them have looked at it from industrial perspectives instead of focusing on universities. The implication of this is that academic mobbing doesn’t have sufficient information. In Turkey, mobbing rates seem to be similar to those experienced in international research studies. Data from these studies show that in Turkey, mobbing is around 42% rate. Over 50% of the victims do not report such problem to others. Furthermore, it has been discovered that direct mobbing affects about 29% of academicians in Turkey (Baskan and Cevik, 2010).


In order to ensure that mobbing is nonexistent is to make sure standard in the workplace is improved. Also, social exclusion should be excluded. For honorable as well as qualified academic life to be established, staff will have to be informed about the institution’s cultural values and standards. There should also be active defense strategies in place. These will help in ensuring proper evaluation of academic advancement criteria/requirements. Also, ethical principles need to be prioritized. There should be improved knowledge of managers on the subject of communication and conflict resolution (Yildirim and Yildirim, 2010).


Mobbing Impact/Effects on Women


Mobbing affects women significantly. They seem to be more affected than men. It can bring about economic as well as occupational loss. This will in turn lead to health problems, thoughts of suicide and social exclusion. Apart from victims, the situation also affects family members (Topkaya-Sevinç, 2011).


How Mobbing Affects the Health & Well-being of Individuals


Mobbing affects women both physically and psychologically. Women suffered decreased motivation, fatigue, hair loss, chronic headaches, depression, low self-esteem, anger, gastric issues, perceptual disorder, sleeping issues, psychosomatic sickness, high blood pressure, continued crying, neck stiffness and many others due to mobbing. One major reason why mobbing has affected their health to a great extent is due to how it has made them to suffer from low self-esteem. Almost all the women expressed unhappiness about their ordeals. Apart from emotional and psychological problems, they were physically affected. It is obvious in this mobbing case that lasted for very long period of time (Topkaya-Sevinç, 2011). In such case, their health would begin to suffer. I was a victim of academic mobbing and it took me a very long period of time to know this had affected my health.


I was working in one of those universities and have been a victim of mobbing from my boss for more almost 24 months (2 years). It was an act that affected me negatively. Within this period, I was less productive due to the verbal harassments I received from my superior. Although I never went to see the doctor for any checkup, I knew this problem had led to depression. Apart from feeling very sick throughout the day, I started experiencing serious headaches. Despite being at home throughout the day, I never did anything meaningful. I am very productive when it comes to book reviews, books published, book chapters, tens of papers and others. However, I wasn’t feeling good to do anything meaningful. I started having the feeling that I wasn’t successful in life. These feelings took a very long time to be gotten rid of. I decided to render voluntary services to a civil society organization. There is no doubting the fact that the 24 months have been my worst moments in life. Resigning from the job was quite difficult since I was very passionate about my role. However, I had lost confidence and needed a new surrounding where I could thrive. When I remember the day, I started the voluntary work, it was as if my heart wanted to pop out. The reason was because I feared facing the same mobbing behavior in this new place of work again. I really don’t know the number of years that it will take to remove such thoughts from my mind.


During these periods when I was experiencing mobbing behavior from my boss, I started having sleeping difficulties. Sleeping during the daytime and nights was very difficult for me. I started experiencing blood pressure issues. After deciding to go and see a doctor, it was discovered that I was having the problem of heart rhythm. The doctor advised that I shouldn’t stress my system too much. During those periods, I was experiencing migraine. This would usually last for about 5days before I would begin to feel normal once again. Right now, I am free of all these problems. No more migraine or depression. Looking back on those periods, it is quite obvious that my life was adversely affected.


My superiors did not just practice mobbing behavior towards me. Also, I was verbally insulted in faculties and departments. One of the reasons for such humiliation was due to my refusal to meet their selfish demands like the rest of my colleagues. Mobbing has affected me both verbally and psychologically. I want to believe that jealousy and envy of superiors have brought about mobbing. My superiors were simply jealousy of my reputation and successful career in the field of academics.


Effects of Mobbing on Social Relationships


Apart from affecting the physical as well as mental health of women, it can also impact the social life of women in a negative way. For instance, it has been discovered that loss of self-confidence by victims can affect how they relate to people around them. Women who are victims of mobbing behavior always try to get help from their families. Based on this, it is very obvious that women who get adequate support from their friends and family members tend to cope very well during such difficult period. Conversely, women who lacked the needed support from family members struggled in coping with mobbing behavior. This further affected their social life and relationship with others (Topkaya-Sevinç, 2011).


I became a victim of mobbing practice in the place of work. In my home, I tried being a good mother and wife. Apart from making me go through stress as well as psychological conditions, the relationship I had with my children and spouse suffered. For instance, I started behaving aggressively towards my children and spouse. I couldn’t take care of my children as expected and began to lose trust in people around. Despite having the ability to resist such negative behavior of my superiors, I wasn’t in the best of shapes. In a nutshell, it started draining me psychologically. I couldn’t stop talking about the negative treatments I got from my superiors after returning from work. I started feeling very tensed at all times. Each time I was returning from work, it would be either I was feeling stressed up or would be tensed after seeing a mail. After discussing it in the house, I would begin to feel demoralized. I was obviously struggling to take care of the children. It became so serious that I was being assisted my mother in-law. It was very important that my children got the best of care since I was always feeling exhausted after returning from work at the end of the day.


How It Affects the University as Well as Society


Mobbing can affect an individual. However, it can affect the university as well as society at large as time goes on.


When there is existence of mobbing, there are problems like decreased motivation, decreased sustainability, loss of experience, lower level of concentration, low productivity, staff inefficiency, and reduced labor force. Another implication is lack of job and organizational loyalty. There is also the problem of low innovation and creativity within the workplace. There is decrease in efficiency rate both from the victim and also the mobber. The latter is looking for ways to perpetrate such act (Topkaya-Sevinç, 2011). The victim on the other hand, is feeling depressed and has lost confidence. Where 200 units are expected during production, 100 units will be gotten. The reason is simply because both parties are distracted from the objectives of the organization. The victim is fully distracted and is suffering psychologically from such behavior or practice. The mobber on the other hand, is not left out. This is because he seems to be committed towards an individual cause. With actions like these existing, the university won’t grow. Therefore, it is recommended that people started exploring strategies, approaches, and other stuffs that can take the university forward and make it more competitive. For this to be experienced firsthand, employees will have to be motivated. This is the only way that I can experience true happiness while carrying out my role in the place of work. Even though the work was quite difficult to leave, I had to resign since such was the only option left. It was a way of gaining back my sanity.


How can someone who is a victim of mobbing behavior/practice in the university become productive? When superiors engage in the act of mobbing practices, students are indirectly affected. This will in turn affect the entire society. The reason is because there is a decline in efficiency. The trauma and effects of mobbing which I had experienced from my superiors had made me not to be talking too much about my ordeal (Topkaya-Sevinç, 2011).


Discussion


According to the review carried out on his work, it has been discovered that there were limited studies to investigate the problem of harassment in universities despite this work taking lots of years to be completed. However, it is quite obvious that this subject matter has been examined scientifically over the past 5 years. This paper has managed to cover some true-life experiences/events about mobbing within the university. This is because it is a concept which is multifactorial and contextual. The articles used are correlational and descriptive. In the same vein, factors which have been mentioned earlier on can be used to continue the development of more studies on harassment within universities including causal relationship which it sustains alongside other variables. It is also important to note that mobbing practices within the university is over 20% (Topkaya-Sevinç, 2011). There are reasons which can be traced to this like sociocultural and sexual factors. In order to handle this problem effectively, we have to make a proper and accurate analysis of both gender differences as well as harassment. In other words, information provided should be very accurate for the problem to be dealt with accordingly. The details should be based on the different categories of mobbing behavior including their perpetrators and victims (Topkaya-Sevinç, 2011). It can be defined as an action which is geared towards destabilizing its victims both emotionally, psychologically and physically. In addition to such, it is crucial to point out that senior managers usually don’t give too much attention to the university’s ethical principles. In order to summarize the above, it is obvious that this work is only an extension of studies which have been carried about on mobbing within the university setting by those occupying top positions. For future cases to be prevented, there is need to ensure regulations and policies are put in place. These will help to keep the behavior/actions of top management personnel in check.


Conclusion


Mobbing is a violence carried out against individuals in their places of work. It is a form of harassment which could be physical or verbal targeted towards some certain people. It has been spotted and identified by international literature in the 90s. However, it was investigated in Turkey during the 2000s. In all of these, it has been discovered to affect the health as well as well-being of victims negatively. Studies have revealed over the years that mobbing practices are carried out by superiors most times. Also, men are those who carry out such actions as compared to women. Gender neutral process is what it is being conceptualized as. Most studies didn’t view mobbing as a problem emanating from gender differences. This is because the behavior or practice isn’t carried out based on gender. One of the reasons why gender has been neglected is because the concept of mobbing first happened in Scandinavian countries. Studies carried out subsequently have shown that women are more victimized as compared to men in most European countries in the issue of mobbing. Also, there is difference in terminology amongst scholars and countries in aspects like psychological harassment, psychological violence, emotional abuse, bullying and more while mobbing is being studied. It is important that an interdisciplinary approach is followed since mobbing entails organizational factors, power relations, human resource management, individual traits, jurisprudence, business administration and gender. With this broad scope, you can see that mobbing is crucial (Topkaya-Sevinç, 2011).


The effects of mobbing are evident on individuals, universities and societies at large. The biggest costs are being paid by individuals though. This is because their health and wellbeing are at stake. As a victim who once experienced its effects, I had to book an appointment with the doctor. I experienced various abnormal conditions like sleeping problems, psychosomatic illnesses, self-hatred, anger, depression, anxiety, crying continuously and others. Apart from my health being affected, I also had problem of being productive. This was because I wasn’t feeling motivated. I was also victimized by the head of department who kept giving false reports about me. He would sent messages that were insulting to me in a bid to tarnish my image before colleagues. It was an unfair treatment meted out to me which eventually affected my level of commitment and dedication towards the job.


Mobbing can also affect the university as well as society in a negative way. For instance, there are problems of lower efficiency, lack of expertise, low productivity, lack of creativity, low staff turnover, and many more. All of these can bring about interrupted employment in the society. These will in turn lead to tax gain losses, increase in expenditures on social security and worsening health problems. It has also been observed that mobbing practices are common in health and education sectors as compared to other sectors. Over the years, workers in these sectors have complained about such practices (Topkaya-Sevinç, 2011).

Just as mobbing practices have been identified in Turkey, the right approaches need to be adopted from the beginning. Also, more research studies should be conducted on mobbing behavior being suffered by women. Such studies will be about analyzing the rate at which women are subjected to such negative practices in organizations. It will also help to carry out a study about making comparisons between mobbing suffered by women and men respectively in Turkey Universities. This is to find out the rate at which such practice is affecting both sexes.

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