Interpersonal conflicts between university teachers and students: what can university management do?

Abstract

The existence of conflicts is inherent in interpersonal relationships, crossing all spaces of human occupation, such as educational institutions. In these spaces, the experience of conflict varies according to the level of education and the motivations of those involved, wich can also determine the following performance of university managers in the face of conflict situations. In this sense, this work aims to discuss how the motivators of interpersonal conflicts between teachers and university students can serve as a base in the decision-making of educational managers. For this purpose, a field research was carried out at a federal public university, applying a structured questionnaire to 476 students and 29 professors at this institution. The results indicate that the university manager must observe three main aspects in the conflict relations between teachers and students: the understanding of conflict as a negative phenomenon prevails and it should be avoided; this positioning is directly related to the perception of the consequences of the conflict; and that, although there are countless motivations for conflict in this relationship, participants tend to recognize the motivations for conflict in the other person. It is concluded that the university manager can act promoting the functionality of the conflict in interpersonal relationships at the university.