Workplace bullying and gender: an overview of empirical findings

The aim of this chapter is to summarize existing research on workplace bullying and gender and examine the many ways in which gender may impact the bullying process. First, it seeks to provide an overview of empirical findings on gender differences in bullying and, second, theoretical explanations for the differences. In terms of prevalence rates, this summary suggests somewhat higher rates for women, although there are regional differences. The chapter reports complex relationships between gender on the one hand and forms of bullying, perpetrations of bullying, consequences of and responses to bullying and interventions in bullying on the other hand. Gender non-conforming behaviour of both men and women as well as being in the minority are recognized as specific risk factors. Yet gender as a social category does not stand in isolation but may intersect and interact with other social categories, creating unique and different experiences for different employee groups. The chapter recognizes gender as a fundamental ordering principle in society and organizations, although many of the empirical studies surveyed still take a gender-as-variable approach instead of explicitly analysing the gendered contexts in which these encounters take place. The overview shows that relationships between gender and bullying are complex and largely shaped by social power afforded to different groups of men and women and by gendered expectations of appropriate behaviour.