Developing Across Differences: Adult Bullying & Difference

About

On the rise in both academia and the workplace, adult bullying compromises the psychological and social safety for all stakeholders within an organization.

As organizations become more diverse, creating and sustaining social safety with zero tolerance for bullying becomes increasingly complicated and demanding.

This issue is further complicated by how culture influences our perceptions of what is considered appropriate or inappropriate behaviour: One person’s idea of behaving in a professional manner can easily be experienced by another person as unskilled, offensive or harmful. This can lead to miscommunication and escalate interpersonal conflicts as individuals struggle to resolve misunderstandings.

Why Attend?
This course explores how cultural differences, power dynamics, and adult bullying intersect in complex and often subtle ways, then shares practical strategies for preventing and mitigating the types of adult bullying behaviors that happen within multicultural contexts. It is particularly suitable for those working in higher education settings.

Course leader

Dr. Jana Hollá

Target group

Participant profile
This course is for you if are a mid- to senior-level in-house professional or consultant/trainer/multiplier/educator who helps those who:
- Lead, work*, or teach in a setting where adult bullying behaviours are a concern — or you would like to prevent them from becoming one.
- Strive to create a more inclusive work environment, enhance cohesion, and improve overall organizational culture among diverse employees / team members.
- Serve in a role that supports individuals and teams to improve cooperation and performance (e.g., HR, people development, management, leadership or organizational development).

*Please note that while this course focuses on those working in higher education, it is open to those who work across differences and seek interpersonal strategies for preventing and mitigating bullying behaviours in other workplace settings.

Contact the organisers at ic@rug.nl or info@iddifferences.org if you have questions about the suitability of this course for your circumstances.

Level requirements
The DAD is for multipliers who help individuals, organizations and societies better recognize, appreciate and use differences as a way of better communicating, working and thriving together.

These are (in-house and external) trainers, educators, consultants, coaches, researchers, scholars, facilitators, HR staff, advanced-level (MA+) students, and professional development specialists with 5+ years of experience/study in the greater Differences field. Contact the organisers at ic@rug.nl or info@iddifferences.org for consultation about appropriateness and eligibility.

It is expected that the participants have a sufficient command of the English language to actively participate in the discussions and to present their own work in English.

Course aim

In this course, you will learn how to help yourself and those you work with so that you/they can better:

- Understand how culture and power dynamics shape perceptions of appropriate communication and behaviour, including if and when such behaviour crosses a line.
- Identify different kinds of bullying behaviours in adult workplace encounters, notably in higher education settings.
- Apply interpersonal level strategies to minimize instances of bullying behaviours and foster a culture of trust, respect, and civility.
- Gain practical strategies to address / mitigate bullying using culturally-adaptive conflict resolution and communication skills.

Workload
12 hours of in-class learning and active participation using experiential methods.

Upon successful completion of the programme, the Summer School offers a Certificate of Attendance that mentions the workload of 12 hours (28 hours corresponds to 1 ECTS). Students can apply for recognition of these credits to the relevant authorities in their home institutions, therefore the final decision on awarding credits is at the discretion of their home institutions. We will be happy to provide any necessary information that might be requested in addition to the certificate of attendance.

Fee info