Faculty Members’ Experience of Student Incivility in Public Institutions of Higher Education: A case study of a conflict-stricken country

Incivility, a growing challenge in higher education institutions, interferes with and disrupts the learning process. This study examined faculty members’ experiences of students’ incivilities in institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 289 faculty members who were teaching in various higher education institutions across Afghanistan. Descriptive and inferential statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyze the data. The findings showed that faculty members experienced varying degrees of a wide range of incivilities in and outside the classroom, including conversing loudly in the class, interruption, and harassment. They also experienced a variety of incivilities related to assessment and grading. A small number of them experienced more serious forms of incivilities including beating, stabbing, and death threats. The findings also revealed that there were not significant differences between participants’ experiences of student incivility by their gender, but there were significant differences between faculty members’ experience by their level of education and years of teaching experience. The study recommends faculty members and higher education institutions take practical measures to address incivilities inside and outside the classroom in order to create a safe learning environment for faculty members and students.