THIS explains why I got such a hard time in two of the Faculties where I studied and taught at UCalgary. Department Heads, Deans & Associate Deans: once this kind of culture gets started, only those who are assholes can get into administration.

Academic assholes and the circle of niceness | The Thesis Whisperer.

Jerks step on, belittle or otherwise sabotage their academic colleagues. The most common method is by criticising their opinions in public, at a conference or in a seminar and by trash talking them in private. Some ambitious sorts work to cut out others, whom they see as competitors, from opportunity. I’m sure it’s not just academics on the payroll who have to deal with this kind of jerky academic behaviour. On the feedback page to the Whisperer I occasionally get comments from PhD students who have found themselves on the receiving end  — especially during seminar presentations.

It’s fairly well known that you can’t be too outwardly nasty (although you might be surprised at the amount of down-right aggression that goes on), but academia seems to either attract, or foster the development of a passive-aggressiveness that is equally toxic and, if we want to highlight what the Academy is actually supposed to be doing, completely counter-productive to the advance of knowledge. What’s less well-known, is that people who raise the bar for the group are also disliked, and in the Academy, that often means that these people are subtly and sometimes not-so-subtly punished for being good. Sycophants and flatterers are rewarded, of course, but very often those who are actually good at what they do are a threat to those who run things, and must be either kept in their place, or driven out.

Sutton claims only a small percentage of people who act like assholes are actually sociopaths (he amusingly calls them ‘flaming assholes’) and talks about how asshole behaviour is contagious. He argues that it’s easy for asshole behaviour to become normalised in the workplace because, most of the time, the assholes are not called to account. So it’s possible that many academics are acting like assholes without even being aware of it.

What it really comes down to is that even if you tell yourself that you are not part of the culture – if you keep to yourself and do your own thing without bothering anyone – you are actually helping the asshole. Like Barbara Coloroso says, there are no bystanders. This does not only apply to kids in schools – it also applies to faculty in higher ed.

What about you? Are you an asshole? Are you one of the people who turns away while colleagues are bullied or abused? One thing I am pretty sure of, if you are one of the very few who is willing to stand up for someone – the ally – you are unlikely to get ahead in a great many institutions.

For my part, I’d rather be on the periphery and keep my principles intact. Every now and then, I actually come across another academic who is *not* threatened by the fact that I actually am very good at what I do. Those are the people who earn my respect.

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