Workplace Conflicts in Educational Institutions: A Review

Abstract

Conflicts are an inevitable phenomenon in life. Wherever two or more people meet, there are bound to be conflicts. Institutions of learning are no exception when it comes to the occurrence of conflicts. The purpose of this study was to determine the causes of workplace conflicts and mechanisms put in place to manage them in educational institutions. To do this, the study reviewed scholarly works on conflicts in educational establishments around the world. Studies from 25 countries published between 1990 and 2021 were examined. In total, 63 articles were analyzed in terms of two criteria, namely: 1) perceived causes of workplace conflicts and 2) mechanisms for managing workplace conflicts. The findings suggest that most of the conflicts in educational institutions (80%) are caused by personal factors arising from communication gaps, negative perceptions, value differences, personal interests, power relations, and emotional related issues. Structural aspects of the educational institutions such as specialization, common resources, goal differences, interdependence, authority relationships, status differences, jurisdictional ambiguities, and, roles and expectations account for 20% of most of the conflicts in the educational establishments. Avoiding, integration, accommodating, obliging, competing, collaborating, dialogue, mediation, dominance, confrontation, and compromising are the most common conflict management styles in educational institutions. The study recommends that future researchers should consider using the mixed methods approach (pragmatism) in the study of conflicts in educational institutions. I think this will help both researchers who study conflicts in the educational system and educational institutions who want to improve their conflict management skills by doing their work. Keywords: Conflicts, educational institutions, causes, styles, management DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-15-13 Publication date: May 31 st 2022