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When is criticism of your teaching, research and other work bullying? Although it’s important for properly sizing up situations and determining the best paths forward, the answer to that question isn’t as obvious as you might think.
On the one hand, unpleasant and ungrounded criticism is not uncommon in academe. Think of lengthy SHMIK (“see how much I know”) “questions” at presentations, or the infamous “Reviewer No. 2” who delays or even derails a publication with strange and hostile feedback.
On the other hand, undeniable forms of bullying, such as repeated yelling and cursing, are relatively rare compared to more typical escalations of incivility into gray areas of varying degrees of frequency and intensity.