Characteristics of harassment in universities: publications from 2014 to 2023

Abstract

Objective: To understand and describe the characteristics of the phenomenon of harassment and mobbing in universities by collecting and analyzing academic studies written in Portuguese. Methodology: A search was carried out for articles in the following databases: Science Direct, SciELO, Web of Science, Dial Net, Psycinfo, Pepsico and Google Scholar. The descriptors bullying and universities were used and selected, resulting in the submission of 20 articles. Results and discussion: There was a predominance of empirical-descriptive studies, whose population was mainly teachers and, in second place, administrative technicians. Most of the subjects were women. It was also found that the participants generally had experience of harassment, either as victims or as witnesses. Most of the subjects of these studies work in federal public educational institutions. Most of the studies analyzed focus on the purposeful deterioration of working conditions, along with the attack on dignity. The respondents do not seem to be concerned about the affective relational aspect or the damage to the organization. Conclusions: Harassment has been noticed more frequently in public universities, and measures are needed to remedy this situation, as they are very important institutions for the whole community, not only in terms of scientific knowledge, but also in terms of promoting ethics and justice. Ideals such as the promotion of knowledge must prevail. Situations of violence cannot be trivialized and naturalized. It is of the utmost importance that the phenomenon is treated seriously by the State.