Use microaffirmations and call out microaggressions to help others

I am a career coach and professional skills trainer with an academic background, and have experienced many microaggressions in my own career. These small, harmful comments are pernicious in the working world, and are much more common there than are acts of serious harassment, such as unwanted sexual behaviour, coercion or assault.

Microaggressions could be defined as everyday verbal, non-verbal and environmental slights, snubs or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate a hostile, derogatory or negative message to target people solely because they belong to a marginalized group¹.

These could include:

• Subtle exclusions, such as not being invited to the pub, being left off an e-mail or not being invited to collaborate;

• Being told to change something about your hair or clothes, to give a more ‘professional’ appearance;

• A tendency on the part of other people to avoid you or move away from you;

• Microinsults, including off-the-cuff remarks;

• Microinvalidations that reveal assumptions based on stereotypes, or that question your lived experience;

• Having your good ideas dismissed, disbelieved or even claimed by others;

• Being addressed in an overtly polite, defensive or formal tone not used with other colleagues;

• People consistently getting your name wrong.

The problem isn’t one incident, which on its own can seem minor or trivial: who hasn’t forgotten a name or missed someone off an e-mail occasionally? It’s the cumulative effect of microaggressions, multiplied over time, that can be devastating — and often invisible to those who do not attract them.

Microaggressions are exhausting. Over time, they create a loss of self-esteem, damage the recipient’s ability to thrive in an environment and generate a mistrust of their peers, or of their institution and its staff.

Microinterventions

We often choose to overlook microaggressions, whether directed at ourselves or others, for fear that we might be perceived as overly sensitive. Sometimes the microaggression might have come from a supervisor — and the recipient might feel that they need to keep that relationship smooth to protect their future career.

Inclusion Matters, a microaggression project run by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, recommends that if you witness or are told about a microaggression, you avoid reacting in a way that would draw further attention to the person affected. Instead, consider ‘disarming’ the microaggression, by stepping in and stopping or deflecting its impact. State what you heard and make clear why it could be harmful. Focus on the perpetrator, which could mean addressing the issue in private, and educate them by helping them to recognize their biases.

Often microaggressions are unconscious acts that result from personal, professional or cultural biases. However, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t choose to challenge them, speak up and give a voice to those whose voices might not be heard. If the incidents continue, consider taking the issue further — perhaps to your institution’s human-resources department or to senior leadership.

Microaffirmations

Microaggressions should be dealt with directly, and can’t be buried under positive action, but there are ways to assist others that are less reactive and more supportive. We can help to build an inclusive academic culture through intentional practice. Here are some steps you can take to help people thrive by fostering a sense of belonging:

Learn how to pronounce people’s names. If you are not sure, ask them to help you, or make a note of the phonetic pronunciation. This is something I did frequently with my international students, and it worked really effectively — resulting in me learning not just names but many phrases from other languages over lunch breaks. I also had a supervisor who included the phonetic pronunciation of her name in her e-mail sign-off. As a microstep, record and display your name’s pronunciation on your LinkedIn profile and encourage others to do the same.

Ask for and respect people’s pronouns. Do so in private, which is less intrusive, because some people would prefer not to be asked at all. Trans and non-binary people might be used to others’ mistakes, but deliberately misgendering someone, or making no effort to change, is unacceptable and is a form of microaggression.

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