Organizational Incivility in Universities: Factors and Strategies

Document Type : Scientific - Research

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student in Educational Management, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

3 Assistant Professor. Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Objectives: Since one of the global goals of Education is to promote civility and respect, in addition to acquiring expertise and skills in science, students must also acquire the high virtues of morality and humanity. At the same time, there are significant types and cases of instances of improper behavior, the same issue that is known as incivility in the academic environment and has become a problem worthy of consideration in higher education. Therefore, the purpose of the current research was to identify the components, antecedents, consequences, and strategies to reduce organizational incivility in universities.
Materials and Methods: The method of this qualitative research was a phenomenological type. The potential participants of the research were lecturers and academic experts at Iranian universities who were knowledgeable about the research subject in the country. Sampling was done with a purposeful approach and by choosing critical cases. Theoretical saturation was used to determine the sample size and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 faculty members and academic experts. Data analysis was done through a thematic analysis approach utilizing MAXQDA 2020 software. To determine the validity of the interviews, a re-study was used by the peer and the researcher, and the reliability was confirmed with theoretical saturation in the data collection stage and the re-test reliability of 89.94%. 
Discussion and Conclusion: The findings from the interviews showed that the components of organizational incivility included 4 global themes (organizational incivility of students, organizational incivility of faculty members, organizational incivility of managers and organizational incivility of employees), the antecedents of organizational incivility include 3 global themes (individual factors, internal organizational factors and external organizational factors), consequences of organizational incivility including 3 global themes (consequences related to individual and organizational health; attitudinal consequences (based on social exchange); and behavioral consequences and withdrawal), strategies to reduce organizational incivility including 3 global themes (educational arrangements, motivational arrangements and organizational arrangements). The organizational incivility components of the students included the organizing themes: non-observance of educational and research norms, violation of the norms of the academic environment, insolence towards the faculty members, and non-observance of student ethics. The organizational incivility components of faculty members included the organizing themes: lack of teaching skills and knowledge, academic indifference, non-observance to professional ethics towards students, non-observance with the norms of the academic environment, having unprofessional and destructive behaviors with colleagues, having offensive and rude behaviors with colleagues. The organizational incivility components of managers included the organizing themes: inefficient management, self-exaltation towards employees, and inattention to employees. The organizational incivility components of employees included the organizing themes: shortcomings and lack of responsibility, lack of effective employee presence at the workplace, and unethical behavior. The individual factors of antecedents included the organizing themes: demographic characteristics of people, personality characteristics of people, and family issues. The internal organizational factors of the antecedents included the organizing themes: structure, rules, and regulations of the university, management issues, job-related issues, inappropriate educational environment and facilities, issues related to the organizational climate and culture of the university, and deficiency in monitoring and evaluation system. The external organizational factors of the antecedents included the organizing themes: socio-cultural issues, economic issues, and political issues. The consequences related to individual and organizational health included the organizing themes: psychological and physical injuries, job and academic burnout, and job dissatisfaction. The attitudinal consequences included the organizing themes: damage to the dignity and status of the university in society. The behavioral and withdrawal consequences included the organizing themes: increased turnover or desire to leave the job; cultivating uncivilized human resources; loss of trust, empathy, and positive relationships between people; reduced task performance; and failure in the implementation of plans and group work. The educational arrangements of the strategies included the organizing themes: training and improvement, self-management and improvement, and development of communication skills. The motivational arrangements of the strategies included the organizing themes: modeling, and appropriate payment and punishment system. The organizational arrangements of the strategies included the organizing themes: reforming the style of management and leadership, management tact, strengthening the organizational culture encouraging politeness and civility, and reforming the selection rules. The results of this research can help faculty members by having sufficient knowledge of the components, antecedents, and consequences of organizational incivility to prevent its destructive effects on the teaching and learning process in universities. 

Keywords

References

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