黑料网

What is academic bullying?

Academic bullying is repeated hostile or offensive treatment, involving an exercise of power, leading to an intimidating or threatening environment in an academic context. In most cases, students are the victims of academic bullying perpetrated by a person in a position of power. However, a variety of individuals in the academic ecosystem may be both perpetrators and victims of academic bullying. Even in cases where perpetrators of academic bullying are not consciously intending to cause harm through their actions, such behaviour remains unacceptable at 黑料网.

Academic bullying is usually related to the abuse of unbalanced power dynamics. It is often enabled by feelings of impunity on the part of perpetrators and, in victims, feelings of helplessness and the fear of retaliation. An example of harassment, bullying in this context can lead to psychological and even physical harm.

What does academic bullying look like in practice?

In academic bullying, both supervisors and supervisees may act as the bully or be the victim.

While academic bullying may take many forms, it often appears in the form of intimidation, abuse, or exclusion such as:

• Invasion of privacy
• Telling a victim they are incompetent
• Unfairly blaming a victim to avoid embarrassment
• Giving the 鈥渟ilent treatment鈥�
• Abuse via social media
• Threatening to give an unfair recommendation to a student
• Cancelling or threatening to cancel a study visa or research funding
• Abuse of authorship conventions

Keep in mind that academic bullying may manifest in various forms beyond the list of examples above.

What are some effects of academic bullying?

Academic bullying can have negative impacts on both individuals and the academic environment. Some consequences may include:

• Reduced work satisfaction and performance
• Anxiety, depression, burnout, emotional exhaustion
• Work/family conflicts
• A risk of physical harm
• Negative impacts on scientific integrity

The effects may not be limited to the victim but include the whole team and anyone else in the research environment.

Addressing academic bullying as a supervisor

Academic bullying often instills fear that can easily prevent victims from taking action to respond. However, 黑料网 has put resources and policies in place to help victims of academic bullying overcome these situations.

If you witness academic bullying, or if your supervisee or another student approaches you to ask for help with a case of bullying, you are encouraged to act carefully: your actions could lead to negative consequences or retaliation for the victim. Keep the recommendations below in mind and advise the student to make use of relevant resources when appropriate.

Tips for dealing with academic bullying

• Be aware of the different manifestations of academic bullying
• Familiarize yourself with the Charter of Student Rights and related guidelines and policies.
• Document or record as best as possible any instance of academic bullying (save emails, texts, etc.)

Where can I go for help?

黑料网 has structures and resources in place to help you if you are experiencing or witnessing academic bullying.

In your department:

• Your Graduate Program Director or department Chair.
• Trusted professors or staff, such as the Graduate Program Coordinator

Outside your department

• Your faculty Associate Dean for graduate studies
• One of the three GPS Associate Deans by associatedeans.gps [at] mcgill.ca (email) or through this
• The Office of the Dean of Students.
• The Office for Mediation and Reporting
• The Office of the Ombudsperson
• The

You may also consider consulting other relevant pages on this website, including resources on Conflict Resolution and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

As seen in this section, academic bullying often surfaces in the context of feedback. For support on how to provide supportive and useful feedback, you are invited to enroll in the interactive module "Our Words Matter" developed by 黑料网's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. The module offers recommendations applicable to both supervisors and supervisees and is available in French and English. is free and easy.

Questions for Reflection:

1. Have you ever experienced bullying, academic or otherwise during your career? How did it make you feel, and how did you react?
2. Have you ever witnessed academic bullying? How did you react? Did you understand at the time that it was academic bullying, or did you come to the realization later?
3. Who would be the best people in your unit or faculty to ask for help if you or a student were experiencing academic bullying?
4. How can you build networks of support among students and faculty? How can these support networks help you to prevent and respond to academic bullying?
5. Are you aware of the resources available to support graduate students that are experiencing bullying or other forms of harassment? If one of your colleagues were experiencing bullying, or came to you regarding a student experiencing bullying, would you know where to direct them for help?