The purpose of this autoethnography was to examine my personal experiences with workplace bullying through the lens of existing research and theory and original inquiry into how other faculty members characterize workplace bullying, their related experiences, and the behaviors and tactics involved.
The study involved 2 phases. Phase I employed the use of 2 dyadic interviews garnering an additional tier of qualitative information where descriptors of additional analytical memos emerged, such as the regional and organizational cultural dynamics involved in workplace bullying. Phase II used my own personal experiences with bullying in higher education. Four indepth vignettes were provided chronologically: graduate student-experience, entry-career, midcareer, and doctoral dissertation research. Each vignette was analyzed using constant comparative method between the literature and interviews to confirm and disconfirm my own experience with bullying in higher education.
Several themes emerged from this research: (1) The nature of my personal workplace bullying experiences highlighted themes involving: bullying behaviors (both victim and bully), position and power (both victim and bully), organizational structure and cultural constructs, and the impact on the victim. The commonalities between my experiences, the literature, and the bullying experiences of other faculty who provided information in this study were: (1) Organizational culture works to support and protect workplace bullies; (2) Organizations with multi-layered hierarchies support workplace bullying behaviors; (3) Workplace bullying results in reports of significant psychological impact (e.g., feelings of anxiety, embarrassment, humiliation, fear, etc.); (4) Workplace bullying involves overt attacks (e.g., intimidation, recruitment of others, threats, etc.); (5) The context of regional culture may influence workplace bullying (i.e. perceptions, tactics, reactions, etc.); and (6) Power (i.e. positional, legitimate, coercive, reward, referent) is a central element in bullying behaviors.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this autoethnography was to examine my personal experiences with workplace bullying through the lens of existing research and theory and original inquiry into how other faculty members characterize workplace bullying, their related experiences, and the behaviors and tactics involved.</p> <p>The study involved 2 phases. Phase I employed the use of 2 dyadic interviews garnering an additional tier of qualitative information where descriptors of additional analytical memos emerged, such as the regional and organizational cultural dynamics involved in workplace bullying. Phase II used my own personal experiences with bullying in higher education. Four indepth vignettes were provided chronologically: graduate student-experience, entry-career, midcareer, and doctoral dissertation research. Each vignette was analyzed using constant comparative method between the literature and interviews to confirm and disconfirm my own experience with bullying in higher education.</p> <p>Several themes emerged from this research: (1) The nature of my personal workplace bullying experiences highlighted themes involving: bullying behaviors (both victim and bully), position and power (both victim and bully), organizational structure and cultural constructs, and the impact on the victim. The commonalities between my experiences, the literature, and the bullying experiences of other faculty who provided information in this study were: (1) Organizational culture works to support and protect workplace bullies; (2) Organizations with multi-layered hierarchies support workplace bullying behaviors; (3) Workplace bullying results in reports of significant psychological impact (e.g., feelings of anxiety, embarrassment, humiliation, fear, etc.); (4) Workplace bullying involves overt attacks (e.g., intimidation, recruitment of others, threats, etc.); (5) The context of regional culture may influence workplace bullying (i.e. perceptions, tactics, reactions, etc.); and (6) Power (i.e. positional, legitimate, coercive, reward, referent) is a central element in bullying behaviors.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Finck, Luke R"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"EdD (Doctor of Education)","degree_level":"Dissertation - restricted","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:19:59Z","subjects":["workplace bullying","faculty","higher education","Higher Education Administration","Other Education"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1154","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Finck, Luke R"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-04-03T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2013-05-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - restricted"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["EdD (Doctor of Education)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["workplace bullying","faculty","higher education","Higher Education Administration","Other Education"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright by the authors."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/2307/viewcontent/FinckL042913f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1154"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this autoethnography was to examine my personal experiences with workplace bullying through the lens of existing research and theory and original inquiry into how other faculty members characterize workplace bullying, their related experiences, and the behaviors and tactics involved.
The study involved 2 phases. Phase I employed the use of 2 dyadic interviews garnering an additional tier of qualitative information where descriptors of additional analytical memos emerged, such as the regional and organizational cultural dynamics involved in workplace bullying. Phase II used my own personal experiences with bullying in higher education. Four indepth vignettes were provided chronologically: graduate student-experience, entry-career, midcareer, and doctoral dissertation research. Each vignette was analyzed using constant comparative method between the literature and interviews to confirm and disconfirm my own experience with bullying in higher education.
Several themes emerged from this research: (1) The nature of my personal workplace bullying experiences highlighted themes involving: bullying behaviors (both victim and bully), position and power (both victim and bully), organizational structure and cultural constructs, and the impact on the victim. The commonalities between my experiences, the literature, and the bullying experiences of other faculty who provided information in this study were: (1) Organizational culture works to support and protect workplace bullies; (2) Organizations with multi-layered hierarchies support workplace bullying behaviors; (3) Workplace bullying results in reports of significant psychological impact (e.g., feelings of anxiety, embarrassment, humiliation, fear, etc.); (4) Workplace bullying involves overt attacks (e.g., intimidation, recruitment of others, threats, etc.); (5) The context of regional culture may influence workplace bullying (i.e. perceptions, tactics, reactions, etc.); and (6) Power (i.e. positional, legitimate, coercive, reward, referent) is a central element in bullying behaviors.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Workplace Bullying: Cultures, Roles, and Lived Experiences"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Finck, Luke R"],"dc:date.available":["2013-04-03T07:00:00Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2013-05-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this autoethnography was to examine my personal experiences with workplace bullying through the lens of existing research and theory and original inquiry into how other faculty members characterize workplace bullying, their related experiences, and the behaviors and tactics involved.
The study involved 2 phases. Phase I employed the use of 2 dyadic interviews garnering an additional tier of qualitative information where descriptors of additional analytical memos emerged, such as the regional and organizational cultural dynamics involved in workplace bullying. Phase II used my own personal experiences with bullying in higher education. Four indepth vignettes were provided chronologically: graduate student-experience, entry-career, midcareer, and doctoral dissertation research. Each vignette was analyzed using constant comparative method between the literature and interviews to confirm and disconfirm my own experience with bullying in higher education.
Several themes emerged from this research: (1) The nature of my personal workplace bullying experiences highlighted themes involving: bullying behaviors (both victim and bully), position and power (both victim and bully), organizational structure and cultural constructs, and the impact on the victim. The commonalities between my experiences, the literature, and the bullying experiences of other faculty who provided information in this study were: (1) Organizational culture works to support and protect workplace bullies; (2) Organizations with multi-layered hierarchies support workplace bullying behaviors; (3) Workplace bullying results in reports of significant psychological impact (e.g., feelings of anxiety, embarrassment, humiliation, fear, etc.); (4) Workplace bullying involves overt attacks (e.g., intimidation, recruitment of others, threats, etc.); (5) The context of regional culture may influence workplace bullying (i.e. perceptions, tactics, reactions, etc.); and (6) Power (i.e. positional, legitimate, coercive, reward, referent) is a central element in bullying behaviors.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/2307/viewcontent/FinckL042913f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1154"],"dc:rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"dc:subject":["workplace bullying","faculty","higher education","Higher Education Administration","Other Education"],"dc:title":["Workplace Bullying: Cultures, Roles, and Lived Experiences"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - restricted"],"thesis:degree_name":["EdD (Doctor of Education)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:19:59Z"}