Collegiality, dealing with bullying and acknowledging unconscious bias

Collegiality, dealing with bullying and acknowledging unconscious bias P.A.S. Reed and K. Proctor (thanks to Andi Keeling whose slides have been heavily borrowed)

Why do we value equality, diversity and inclusivity? • Diverse teams are more creative • Different perspectives and approaches add value • EPSRC (funding body) explicitly request information on ED&I activities and training for researchers • We need to be crystal clear about bullying • What to do if we see it/experience it • Dignity at work policy • http://www.southampton.ac.uk/diversity/policies/dignity_at_work.page • Discuss any issues immediately with supervisor, Grad School, HoG, HoD or HoS

Policy aims • promote a positive environment in which people are treated fairly and with respect • encourage all staff and students to play a role in creating and maintaining an environment in which harassment, bullying and victimisation are understood to be unacceptable behaviour • provide a framework of support for staff and students who feel that they have been the subject of harassment, bullying or victimisation • ensure that allegations of harassment, bullying or victimisation are addressed fairly, with respect for the rights and dignity of all those involved • identify the appropriate formal processes by which complaints can be raised

Bullying Bullying is the abuse of personal or collective power or a position of authority, in an aggressive or subtle way, which makes the recipient feel upset, threatened, humiliated or vulnerable and undermines their self-confidence. Examples of bullying: • psychological intimidation, humiliation, excessive and/or unreasonable criticism or fault-finding of any colleague or peer • preventing an individual progressing by intentionally blocking promotion or training opportunities, unjustifiably restricting choice of study options or access to tuition • unfair allocation of work and responsibilities or setting unreasonable goals or targets in work or study, including both above and below reasonable expectations • asserting a position of intellectual superiority in an aggressive, abusive or offensive manner whether orally or in writing, publicly or in private

Harrassment Harassment encompasses many different types of physical, verbal and non-verbal conduct. It can occur as an isolated incident, many sporadic incidents or as on-going behaviour. The defining features are that the conduct: • is unwanted and unwelcome; • subjects a person or group of people to intimidation, humiliation, ridicule, offence, loss of privacy or dignity, or creates an environment which is hostile, intimidating or offensive to that person or group of people • is unwarranted by the working, study or social relationship between those involved and would be regarded as such by any similarly situated reasonable person

Victimisation • Victimisation occurs when a person is mistreated because they have made, or intend to make, a complaint of discrimination (including harassment and/or bullying), or have helped another person to make a complaint. • Victimisation can constitute unlawful discrimination and result in disciplinary action, regardless of the outcome of the original complaint.

Collegiality • Collegiality is the relationship between colleagues. Colleagues are those explicitly united in a common purpose and respecting each other's abilities to work toward that purpose. A colleague is an associate in a profession or in a civil or ecclesiastical office (Wikipedia) • Collegial (adjective) – Cambridge English Dictionary • relating to a friendlyrelationship between colleagues (= people who work together): • The organization has a welcoming collegial atmosphere. • used to describe a method of working in which responsibility is shared between several people:

Complexity of self

Levels of Trust (some homework) Individually: Write down 8 -10 people at work who you think of as being at level 3…. Look at this list – does anything strike you about the people on it? How similar to you are they? Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

How our brains work • 80,000 billion brain cells synapticallyconnected • 10,000 potential connections between each brain cell and the others • Our unconscious brain processes over 200,000 pieces of information every second • Our conscious brain chooses to focus on 6-7 of these pieces of information • WHAT ARE YOU FOCUSSING ON?

Frame of Reference

System 1 and 2 thinking

What is bias? • A tendency or preference towards a particular perspective • This tendency interferes with our ability to be impartial, objective or unprejudiced • Bias is generally seen as a 'one-sided' perspective • Cognitive bias is based on factors relating to the way the brain processes information These biases include: • Confirmation bias • Blind spot • Stereotyping • Affinity bias • In-group bias

What’s a good “cultural fit”? • People who conform to ‘mainstream’ organisational culture • People we feel comfortable with • Behaviour and visual characteristics we’re familiar with • Often explained in the context of organisational values “Frankly Harold, we like the look of you”

Examples of Bias

Test your own bias…. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

Collegiality, dealing with bullying and acknowledging unconscious bias