Category Archives: Discrimination

STOP the Bull(ying) in Higher Education Symposium for Faculty

December 17, 2022bullying, cyberbullying, Discrimination, workplace bullyingleahhollis

Here to stop workplace bullying or enhance your diversity efforts?

Do you have questions about diversity, workplace bullying, or gender equity?

Perhaps you are interested in training or a keynote.

GREAT! We are here to help!

Equity1@patriciaberkly.com. or 610 990 6588

2207 Concord Pike #238

Wilmington DE 19803

Please bear with us while we are under construction.

STOP the Bull(ying) in Higher Education Symposium for Faculty

February 24, 2023– 10 am – 2:15 pm- Eastern Time

March 31, 2023—10 am- 2:45 pm- Eastern Time

Workplace bullying in higher education destroys careers, creates health problems, diminishes diversity/inclusion efforts, and erodes organizational trust. Given the breadth of problems that workplace bullying causes for higher education, many faculty are dedicated to stopping this aggressive and unproductive behavior.

Lehigh University- the Marcon Institute for Social Justice, Boston University- Center for Character & Social Responsibility, The National Workplace Bullying Coalition, Patricia Berkly LLC, Academic Parity, and Maryland AAUP are partnering to tackle some of these problems. We are hosting a symposium for faculty and practitioners to discuss the problem and then develop a position paper that will be widely available.

The topics: 1.Faculty career safety 2.Faculty health issues 3.Cost and Legal Ramifications 4. Institutional Diversity

Impact on research

Two-day Symposium: Friday February 24 from 10 am- 2:15 pm and Friday March 31, EST 10 am – 2: 45 pm

Each topic will begin with a 10-minute lead-off discussion by a content expert. Next, we will have an hour and 15-minute discussion. The symposium will be recorded to inform an extensive report of recommendations.

State of the problem (1 of 5 topics) & examples – 10 minutes
Discussion on the 45 minutes
Brainstorm about solutions – 30 minutes
All discussions will be records and then transcribed

All comments will be recorded for the purpose of transcription and report development. All research experts will be listed in the final report unless otherwise indicated they wish to remain anonymous. Participants’ names will NOT be used. IRB# 22/11-0190. If you wish to attend both meetings, please register for both; meetings have different links

Day 1 February 24- All times are Eastern Standard Time

Introductions and Opening

Welcome Message and Purpose of the Symposium

10:00 am- 10:10am Leah P. Hollis & Holona Ochs

Overview Loreleigh Keashly

10:10 am 10-minute brief on topic

10:20 am -11:00 am Open Discussion on the topic

Topic #1-Legal Issues and Cost. Jerry Carbo

11:05 am 10- minute brief on topic

11:15 am- 12 noon Open Discussion on the Topic

12 noon – 12:30 pm possible solutions

Topic #2- Faculty Career Safety. Stacy Tye-Williams

12:35 pm 10- minute brief on topic

12:45 pm- 1:30 pm Open Discussion on the Topic

1:30 pm – 2:00 pm possible solutions

Closing 2:00 pm- 2:25 pm Leah Hollis- the project and March 31 preview

Register in advance for this meeting. Copy/Paste Link into Browser. Space is limited:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0rceCsqDkpG91KJDweAtn3C5zljHZPB62o

DAY 2 March 31

10:00 am Introductions and Recap Leah Hollis & Holona Ochs

10:10 am. Welcome Message and Purpose of the Symposium

Topic #3- Institutional Diversity. Jennifer Swann

10:10 am 10-minute brief on topic

10:20 am -11:05 am Open Discussion on the topic

11:05 am – 11:35 am Possible Solutions

Topic #4- Impact on Research. Morteza Mahmoudi

11:40 am 10-minute brief on topic

11:50 am -12:35 pm Open Discussion on the topic

12:35-1:05 pm Possible Solutions

Topic #5- Faculty Health Issues. Susan Johnson

1:05 pm -10-minute brief on topic

1:15 pm -2:00 pm Open Discussion on the topic

2:00 pm-2:30 pm Possible Solutions

Closing 2:30 pm- 2:45pm Leah P. Hollis

Inform participants on next steps- Reflect of comments

Plans for Dissemination of Report

Register in advance for this meeting. Copy/Paste Link into Browser. Space is limited:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIlfuioqzguGda188P_V-5L72fhwVxBBBrk

Research Team

Leah P. Hollis- Associate Professor at Morgan State, Visiting Researcher at Boston University. Founder of Patricia Berkly LLC, Studies workplace bullying, race, and gender in higher education.
Holona Ochs- Professor, Director of the Marcon Center for Social Justice at Lehigh University

Workshop Leaders in Alpha Order.

Jerry Carbo- Professor, Shippensburg State, EEO professional and attorney. Founder of the National Workplace Bullying Coalitions
Susan Johnson- Professor, University of Washington- Tacoma. Studies workplace bullying in health careers.
Loraleigh Keashly- Professor and Associate Dean, Wayne State. Studies faculty, bullying and conflict resolution
Morteza Mahmoudi- Assistant professor, Michigan State, Founder of the Academic Parity Movement. Studies impact of workplace bullying in the STEM fields.
Jennifer Swann- Professor, Lehigh University. Ombudsmen. Examines workplace bullying in STEM fields.
Stacy Tye-Williams Associate Professor, Iowa State, studies workplace bullying in communication

Boston University honors Hollis, Social Justice Advocate/Educator

September 8, 2022bullying, Discrimination, workplace bullyingsocial justice, workplace bullyingleahhollis

Boston University honors Hollis, Social Justice Advocate/Educator

Dr. Leah P. Hollis, a Boston University Martin Luther King Jr Fellow for Social Justice, has been awarded the Lucy Wheelock Alumni Award for 2022. Specifically, the Boston University/Wheelock alumni network honors Hollis for “championing causes such as workplace bullying, discrimination, pay inequity, and gender bias.” Many of her colleagues comment that Hollis’ advocacy inspired the historical 9% raise for faculty and the introduction of more substantial pay bumps as the point of tenure and promotion. Boston University Professor and Dean Emeritus, Dr. Hardin Coleman stated, “it is impressive they way in which Dr Hollis uses her research and practical experience to effect real change in the world that often benefits the most vulnerable.” Hollis’s efforts align with Morgan State core values of excellence, integrity, respect, diversity, innovation, and leadership. Therefore, she is a recent awardee of the Dr. Iva G Jones award, the highest award bestowed on faculty at Morgan State University for research, teaching, services, and character.

Hollis has dedicated her academic research to workplace bullying and specifically how bullying disproportionately affects women and people of color. Her research informs her Social Justice course which won an award from AERA (American Educational Research Association). Hollis has penned over 50 articles and worked with over 300 colleges and universities to curtail costly and health-harming workplace bullying on campus. In the last year, she has completed two books with Routledge, Human Resource Perspectives on Workplace Bullying in Higher Education Understanding Vulnerable Employees’ Experiences (2021) and Black Women, Intersectionality, and Workplace Bullying Intersecting Distress(2022). Hollis continues to work through her consulting group, Patricia Berkly LLC

Lecture on ECO System on Workplace bullying- OCT 27. 2pm EST. Boston University

October 16, 2021bullying, Discrimination, Diversity Trainingleahhollis

Center for Character and Social Responsibility

Occasional Seminar Series (free event)

2:00– 3:30 PM

October 27, 2021

People, Places, Things: A comprehensive eco system model of workplace bullying in higher education

Leah P. Hollis, Ed.D

Associate Professor of Advanced Studies, Leadership, and Policy

College of Education and Urban Studies

Morgan State University

Senior Scholar

Center for Character and Social Responsibility

Join Zoom Meeting
https://bostonu.zoom.us/j/96901537734?pwd=cENKS2dPbWJLOEFkdVIwMmdMSzZqUT09&from=addon

In the past decade, several scholars have examined the antecedents and causes of workplace bullying. We have examined the psychological position of the bully, the involvement of leadership, and potential health problems. However, it appears to date there has not been a study that exams the ECO system of workplace bullying, that is how do all these elements work together to create hostile work environments in higher education that support bullying. Therefore, this lecture will offer an Eco system of workplace bullying in higher education, which is the result of 18 in-depth interviews with faculty. Not only will this lecture present the findings of the extended case study and resulting model, but we will also garner feedback from participants that may contribute to a future integration of the model.

Leah P. Hollis Ed.D., Associate Professor at Morgan State is a noted national and international expert on workplace bullying. Her recent book, Human Resource Perspectives on Workplace Bullying in Higher Education Understanding Vulnerable Employees’ Experiences was released by Routledge Publishers in May 2021. It empirically examines the structural and organizational problems that sustain workplace bullying and hurt junior faculty, women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community. Other notable work includes The Coercive Community College: Bullying and its Costly Impact on the Mission to Serve Underrepresented Populations, which was released by Emerald publications in 2016.

Miami University & Metropolitan State

March 18, 2019bullying, Discrimination, workplace bullyingdiversity training, higher education, stop bullying, workplace bullyingleahhollis

Dr. Hollis was out again this winter spreading the word about workplace bullying in higher education. First, she visited Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Her two day trip included a training for the School of Education, and the second day she participated on a panel for the Psychology Department.

This March 2019, Dr. Hollis visited Metropolitan State in St. Paul, MN. Her keynote talk for the faculty reflected on how workplace bullying hurts diversity. She also gave some solutions on how leaders can stamp out abusive bullying behaviors.

If you would like Dr. Hollis to visit your campus, contact us directly. Time is overdue to STOP! workplace bullying on campus.

Is there Justice for GI Jane

June 30, 2013Discrimination, Diversity Training, sexual harassmentleahhollis

Is There Justice For GI Jane?

Is there Justice for GI Jane?

Do you remember the hardships Demi Moore’s character went through to become the first woman to join Navy Special Forces in the 1997 film GI Jane?

The torment, the sacrifice and the even the frustration any woman endures to measure up to men in a men’s world should be enough to equalize that system on and off the field of battle for women.

Imagine further, that after such dedicated service, GI Jane and another 26,000 of her fellow service women face sexual assault while serving in the military. Often such assault goes unreported and unpunished, leaving the question, is there justice for GI Jane?

While GI Jane was fictitious, the pervasive level of sexual assault in the service is not. Unfortunately as Face The Nation* reports, a culture of power in the military leads to the pervasive abuse of women serving our country.

In the current system, the commander oversees such complaints; yet this can lead to conflicts of interest or lax oversight, especially if the commander is party to the complaint.

In civilian workplaces, employees are protected from retaliation when they voice concerns for civil rights as outlined in Title VII legislation.

Also, in civilian workplaces, employees can access a third-party in the EEOC and the court system if they don’t find justice internally with Human Resources.

However, it appears that the power structures in the military jeopardize this very right for women. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, has proposed legislation that takes the adjudication process out of the hands of commanders and instead brings such cases to a military board outside the chain of command.

She also reminded the senate that countries like the United Kingdom and Israel have already taken such steps to protect their service women.

The military reports that 97% of its service men and women go through sexual harassment prevention training. Another 9 out of 10 state they would encourage women to report such abuse.

Then why do 26,000 women face sexual assault?

As with any organization which subscribes to power structures as part of its management structure, when power is abused, those at the bottom of the food chain are the ones to endure such abuse.

This is not commentary on how the military should run its leadership training or functions, but it is a reflection on how the misuse of power corrupts. Whether military or civilian leadership, whether it is about abuse, assault, bullying or other corruption of power, it is leadership at the helm that sets the tone, who serves as the architect of the organizational culture.

*SOURCE: CBS News Report