Everyone should become more aware of microaggressions in general, but in professional environments, there should be a special level of attention and care taken.
People are increasingly becoming aware of the term microaggression, though they often don’t know what a microaggression is, why it is a problem, or what to do about it.
Essentially, microaggressions are based on a simple, damaging idea: “Because you are X, you probably are/are not or like/don’t like Y.” And most often the ‘X’ happens to be a person belonging to the marginalized community. Conscious steps must be taken to combat the microaggressions that happen in the workplace. And the first step towards the same is to identify and become aware of the incidents of microaggressions happening in the day-to-day work environment.
Here are examples of a few types of microaggressions that you may hear within and outside the workplace:
Ethnicity
“I didn’t realize you were South Indian — you don’t look like one,” signaling that a person of South Indian heritage has a stereotypical look.
Citizenship/Nationality
“Your English is so good — where are your parents from?” signaling that people with English as a second language are generally less capable of speaking English.
Class
“How did you get into that college?” signaling that someone’s background makes them an anomaly at a prestigious college.
Gender
“Don’t be so sensitive,” signaling that someone, likely a woman, is being “too emotional” in a situation where a man would be more objective.
Parental status
“You don’t have kids to pick up, so you can work later, right?” signaling that someone without children does not have a life outside of work.
Meritocracy
“I believe the most qualified person should get the job.” Or “Gender plays no part in who we hire” signaling that the playing field is even so if women cannot make it, the problem is with them.
Mental Health
“You don’t seem like you are depressed. Sometimes I get sad too,” minimizing the experiences of people with mental illness.
Leaders, managers, and employees often commit these microaggressions in their efforts to bond, to be funny, to show familiarity, or to show curiosity. But microaggressions contribute to feelings of exclusion from the workplace by marginalized people (in terms of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, age, ability, etc.), affecting internal workplace culture and impacting employees’ interactions with customers.
