In Higher Education Institutions there are some forms of direct violence, although seldom nobody has been studied other forms of violence such as symbolic violence. Objective: to point out, based on the experiences of some higher education professors, the manifestations of symbolic violence present in their workplace. Method: research of mixed focus framed in the analytical empirical paradigm. The instruments used were a structured survey applied to 200 professors and an in-depth interview in which five professors from a public higher education institution in Colombia participated. Results: The findings reveal the presence of certain forms of symbolic violence in the HEI that are translated, mainly, in limitations to the exercise of the free development of the chair, restrictions to express their opinions or own points of view, difficulties in the recognition of ideological plurality, differential treatment by sex and not more importance given to some disciplines. Conclusion: universities are hierarchical structures of power on which special forms of symbolic violence can nest that require strategies and particular lines of action from human management.