‘Unacceptable’ levels of bullying revealed by UKRI staff survey

One in eight staff at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) have witnessed bullying or harassment at the organisation while one in 14 have faced this kind of abuse themselves, new documents show.

According to the results of UKRI’s 2024 annual people survey, which have been published following a Freedom of Information request, 13 per cent of employees said they had seen bullying behaviour in the workplace in the past 12 months, with 7 per cent claiming they had been victimised.

A further 5 per cent of the 5,130 respondents, which represents 59 per cent of 8,631 staff, said they preferred not to comment.

Asked to name the types of bullying or harassment they had witnessed or experienced, more than half of the 356 staff who had faced such behaviour (53 per cent) called out poor management or feedback practices. The most prevalent kinds of bullying behaviour were attempts to diminish an individual’s reputation (cited by 67 per cent who had faced bullying) and making unpleasant, sarcastic, rude or passive aggressive remarks (65 per cent).

Only about half of staff who said had they experienced bullying or harassment said they had reported it (54 per cent). About a third of the cases (34 per cent) related to a senior member of staff while 35 per cent related to a direct line manager.

Of the 194 people who had reported bullying or harassment, only 28 per cent of respondents felt appropriate action had been taken, 42 per cent said the behaviour had stopped while 47 per cent agreed that the culture of UKRI allowed this sort of behaviour to continue.

Of those who did not report incidents of bullying or harassment, 57 per cent said they lacked the confidence anything could be done to stop it and 55 per cent confided that they were worried whistle-blowing could harm their career.

The internal figures are likely to fuel concerns about whether the UK’s main research funder, which runs the Forum for Tackling Bullying and Harassment in Research and Innovation, has sufficiently tackled the issues on which it advises universities. According to Research Professional, 22 internal complaints of bullying were launched in 2023, up from 6 in 2022.

Recognising and dealing with bullying on college campuses

A request for a transcript of a speech by Dame Ottoline Leyser, who will step down as UKRI’s chief executive later this year, in which she is thought to have addressed the issue of bullying was declined by the funder on the grounds that its disclosure would inhibit the free and frank exchange of views.

In response to the latest people survey figures, a UKRI spokesperson said the current levels of reported bullying and harassment were “unacceptable” and that “bullying, harassment and discrimination have no place in UKRI, and staff well-being remains our priority”.

“Last July we published an action plan to counter bullying, harassment and discrimination and promote a culture of dignity and respect. While we are making progress on delivering the plan, we have more to do,” the spokesperson continued.

“We would encourage anyone who experiences unacceptable behaviour, whether directly or indirectly, to report this through the established channels.”

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com