Male students' experiences with faculty incivility

Abstract

Academic incivility can cause strain in the teaching learning environment. The problem of academic incivility from the male nursing student perspective has not been previously studied. The purpose of this study was to explore male students' perspectives of faculty incivility and compare male nursing students' perspectives to that of non-nursing male students. Twenty-five non-nursing male students and twenty-seven male nursing students completed a questionnaire about faculty incivility. A majority (92 %) of non-nursing students perceived that ineffective teaching is the most disruptive behavior and 56% have experienced or seen this behavior occur in the last 12 months. While 100% of nursing students perceived that making condescending remarks or putdowns is the most disruptive behavior, the top disruptive behavior experienced or seen in the last 12 months was ineffective teaching (67%). The most frequent threatening faculty behavior perceived by nursing students was general taunts or disrespect to other students (33%), whereas the most frequent threatening faculty behaviors perceived by the non-nursing students was challenges to other faculty knowledge or credibility (24%). Additionally, many male nursing students (89%) perceived academic incivility a mild to serious problem, while only 64% of their male non-nursing student colleagues did. Recommendations for nursing education based on the study findings include: faculty development, communication, setting goals and expectations, diversity awareness and change, and the ability for students to report incivility. Recommendations for nursing practice include recognizing the link of incivility in the workplace and the impact on new graduate nurses, particularly in the areas of retention and patient safety. Addressing incivility in academia could afford the opportunity to break the cycle of incivility before it reaches the nursing environment, mitigating the loss of qualified male nurses or deleterious impacts on patient care.