How can we prevent and reduce bullying amongst university students?

Abstract

While it has long been recognized that bullying occurs at school and in the workplace, recent research confirms that bullying also takes place among university students, including undergraduates, post-graduates and doctoral research students. In the UK, the National Union of Students (NUS) alerted staff and students to the issue in a series of reports but it is not confined to the UK. Authors in the book edited by Cowie and Myers (2016a, 2016b) present cross-national findings on the theme of bullying among university students (Pörhöla et al., 2016). In this article we discuss the urgent need for interventions to prevent and reduce bullying in this context. We also indicate the areas where little or no intervention is taking place, notably in the field of university policy.