Foreign-born people more exposed to harassment and bullying

“Now we are aware that this problem exists, the University also needs to learn to think about nationality in its anti-bullying and anti-harassment efforts. Naturally, this is particularly important if we aspire to be an international university,” says Minna Salminen-Karlsson, affiliated researcher at the Centre for Gender Research.

Salminen-Karlsson was asked by the Vice-Chancellor to analyse the University’s figures in a national survey conducted during the pandemic. The analysis is presented in the report “Genusbaserad utsatthet, sexuella trakasserier och mobbning på Uppsala universitet” (“Gender-based violence, sexual harassment and bullying at Uppsala University”). The report is in Swedish and will be translated into English ahead of autumn 2024.

The survey was carried out by the Research and Collaboration Programme on Gender-based Violence in Academia, which is conducted by KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Malmö University and the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research at the University of Gothenburg.

Should be taken as an indication

The results of the survey should be treated as an indication of areas that need to receive attention.

“The figures are based on a survey with checkbox questions and no free-text responses. We therefore don’t know why the students and employees responded in the way they did. People subjected to the same behaviour can obviously interpret the situation in different ways. Also, when you start to break the results down into different groups, in some cases there are very few respondents. However, there are many statistically significant differences that point to areas where the University needs to find out more and address gender equality and equal opportunities issues.”

In the interview Salminen-Karlsson highlights two action areas that need more attention: firstly, the differences between employees born in Sweden and employees born abroad, and between students born in Sweden both of whose parents were born abroad and students whose parents were both born in Sweden; and secondly, extensive under-reporting of sexual harassment and students’ possibilities for reporting sexual harassment.

In other respects, the survey confirms the situation that is familiar from research and other studies. Women are subjected to sexual harassment more often than men and it is more often men who are the perpetrators (see also the earlier article on the national survey via the link box below).

Foreign-born people more vulnerable

Considerably more foreign-born people stated in the survey that they have experienced bullying: 21 per cent of foreign-born employees responded that they had been subjected to bullying in their place of work during the past twelve months, compared with 7 per cent of employees born in Sweden.

There is also a gender difference here. Approximately 25 per cent of foreign-born women state that they have been bullied, compared with 16 per cent of foreign-born men.

Among doctoral students, the results show that foreign-born female doctoral students are more likely to state that they have been bullied by their supervisor than female doctoral students born in Sweden (12 per cent compared with 2 per cent).

“The survey responses suggest that the bullying and sexual harassment have a lot to do with the work environment and the atmosphere at work. The bullies are generally colleagues rather than superiors. Of course, at the University we have an organisation in which managers are not so noticeable,” Salminen-Karlsson comments.

Students from immigrant backgrounds vulnerable

The survey responses show that students born in Sweden whose parents were both born abroad experience bullying more frequently than other students. This also applies to abuse on social media: a fifth of Swedish-born students with two foreign-born parents state that they have been subjected to harassment via text messages, email or social media.

Students born abroad are also bullied and abused on social media significantly more often than Swedish-born students.

Students are generally bullied by other students.

Low reporting rate for harassment

Relatively few people report sexual harassment; approximately a fifth of unwelcome sexual advances are reported. Naturally this in turn makes it rather difficult for employers to take action against the problem.

Some of the reasons given for not reporting sexual harassment are influenced by the way in which the University deals with complaints. This is true, for example, of the possible responses “Would not have made any difference”, “Could have negative consequences for me” or “Didn’t know who to tell”.

The questionnaire reveals a clear difference between why foreign-born women and Swedish-born women do not report sexual harassment. Thirty-two per cent of foreign-born women chose the alternative “I didn't know who to contact” compared with eleven per cent of Swedish-born women.

“The University needs to have good procedures for dealing with sexual harassment and everyone needs to know how to start the process. It’s also important that staff and students are aware that the procedures exist and know how they work so that they dare to report harassment.”

Bystander training a way forward

The report concludes with a review of the current state of research and proposals to increase equality between people born in Sweden and abroad and to reform the management of harassment.

One of the proposals is to work on what is known as bystander training. In brief, this involves training staff and students to be aware of and recognise sexual harassment and to give them tools to act in different situations to prevent harassment from becoming established. Bystander training is an effective way to prevent harassment from escalating.

“Bystander training gives you the tools to know how to act when you see harassment. This can include things like changing the topic of conversation and making a situation less charged. Research has shown that minor harassment – if left unchallenged – risks leading to more serious harassment.”

What’s happening now?

Preparations are currently underway to offer staff bystander training. In addition, an online training programme to counteract domination techniques will soon be ready.

The Vice-Chancellor has also instructed the Advisory Board for Equal Opportunities to draw up a programme for equal opportunities. The programme is intended to serve as a University-wide governance document for long-term work on equal opportunities and gender equality.

Anders Berndt