Apparently small acts, which are often ephemeral and hard-to-see, events that are public and private, often unconscious but highly effective, which occur wherever people wish to help others to succeed. These include the tiny acts of opening doors to opportunity, gestures of inclusion and caring, graceful acts of listening, practicing generosity, consistently giving credit to others, and providing comfort and support when others are in distress.
Published in Chapter:
Analyzing and Managing Microaggressions in the Workplace in the Context of the United States
Copyright: © 2023
|Pages: 25
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-6898-2.ch002
Abstract
Microaggressions are brief, intended or unintended, commonplace verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities that communicate derogatory, hostile, or negative insults and slights toward people who do not classify within the 'normative' standard. Those who microaggress are often unaware that they engage in such communications when they interact with people who differ from themselves. In the workforce, these interchanges are exacerbated, as issues regarding implicit biases tend to play themselves out in communal settings. In response to this, the discussion of microaggressions in its numerous forms, coupled with its manifestations in the workplace, adds to the growing knowledge base on aversive behavior and its short- and long-term impacts. The authors begin by investigating the residual effects of everyday “isms” on the work productivity and quality of life of those on the receiving end. They conclude with suggestions for institutional-level education, training, and research—specific to organizational settings—in the effort to reduce microaggressions in the professional environment.