The effects and consequences of bullying on student's mental wellbeing

The purpose of this research-based thesis was to research bullying in higher education in Finland and how bullying experiences affect the mental wellbeing of students. The thesis was done in collaboration with Nyyti Ry’s project “Puhutaan Kiusaamisesta!” which translates to “let’s talk about bullying”. The “Puhutaan Kiusaamisesta!” project is a two-year project that aims to reduce and prevent bullying in higher education. The purpose of the project is to increase awareness of bullying occurring in higher education and finding ways and strategies to reduce and prevent it. The goal was that bullying would be better recognized in student communities and therefore intervened in. The thesis was a qualitative research and the data of the thesis was collected through a survey about bullying and bullying experiences in higher education studies. The survey was sent to various universities and universities of applied sciences to gather wide-ranging data and information. The survey was also advertised in social media. Content analysis was used as a method to analyse the results of the survey. The survey included open-ended questions about bullying experiences, where respondents were able to express themselves in their own words, as well as Likert scale questions. The results of the survey indicated that bullying is more common among women than men and more common in universities of applied sciences than universities. According to the survey, the most common consequences of bullying on mental wellbeing are anxiety, extra stress, depression and isolation. Respondents with bullying experiences had also experienced a negative change in their social life and their ability to study. Respondents felt like higher education should have more open discussion and information about bullying and how to deal with it