Four ways to deal with “micro-discrimination” in the workplace

Stephanie Creary is a professor of management at the Wharton School of Business. In life, people often tell her to smile more, so that the instruction to “smile more” has been deeply embedded in her subconscious mind. Behaving like an “angry black woman” or a very bossy leader.

The phrase “smile more” has had a huge impact on Creary as a form of microaggression. She even assured students in class last year that she was smiling underneath a mask. Afterwards she thought, “Oh my god, I’ve always had the idea that I’m smiling a lot. It’s so ingrained in me that I have to tell my students ‘I promise I’m smiling now.'”

Creary’s experience is no stranger to Lori Tauber Marcus . Marcus, also a Wharton graduate, is now a corporate board member, executive trainer, and has spent decades in leadership roles at PepsiCo, Keurig Green Mountain, The Children’s Place retail stores, and Peloton Interactive. Marcus recently co-authored a new book, You Should Smile More: How to Dismantle Gender Bias in the Workplace , with five other women who are also C-level executives. . The book presents some of the most common micro-discrimination behaviors for women in the workplace. For example, women are often dismissed as stenographers in staff meetings (“Susan, can you help take notes?”), or when an original idea is dismissed, another male colleague’s same idea is warmly welcomed (“Great idea, Greg!”).

Marcus said: “These things are not a big problem at first glance, but over time, the accumulation of these things will only make women in the workplace feel very tired, and people can’t help but want to refuse to cater. The result of refusing to cater is women. Marginalized directly in the workplace. If someone asks you, ‘Have you met the new girl in accounting?’ you’re not going to be like, ‘Well, that girl is going to be a CEO level one day’.”

Marcus opened up about this issue with Creary on her podcast, Leading Diversity at Work. The current podcast also features David Rivera , a professor of counseling education at Queens College, CUNY . Rivera’s research focuses on cultural competency development, the impact of discrimination on people from underrepresented groups, and microdiscrimination.

Rivera says we need people to tell more about their experiences of micro-discrimination, just like Creary’s own and those relayed in Marcus’s book. Because microdiscrimination often occurs unintentionally, its nature stemming from unconscious bias or stereotyping. Talking about micro-discriminations can make them visible to those who would otherwise ignore them, he said. When biased behavior occurs, it’s best to call it out on the spot to help make everyone more inclusive.

Rivera shared an incident that happened to him. He once received a party invitation from a college president that said “Dr. and Mrs. Rivera,” and Rivera was actually gay. But Rivera points out that the microdiscrimination of this statement goes far beyond assuming that everyone is straight, assuming that he is married as a straight man and that his female spouse is not a Ph.D.

He said: “Do I feel included, included by the collective? Absolutely not. This is another level of insult to me, that is, the reason I can work at this school is because of my expertise in the field of microdiscrimination. The research made a difference, but now I’m being micro-discriminated against myself.”

Rivera gave a brief explanation of the term “microdiscrimination”. Although the concept of “micro-discrimination” is relatively popular now, it actually originated in the 1970s. Chester Pierce, a Harvard-educated black psychologist at the time, coined the term “microdiscrimination” after researching the portrayal of blacks in prime-time television commercials. Pierce found that blacks were only used as “background boards,” to add comedy to commercials or to serve as waiters or nurses. Pierce defines micro-discrimination as covert insults by whites against blacks that can easily add up to “pervasive effects on the stability and peace of the world.”

In 2006, Derald Wing Sue, a professor of counseling psychology at Columbia University, regained the term “micro-discrimination” and expanded its definition to include many groups other than blacks who were “othered” by various micro-discriminations of mainstream groups. Rivera, who has followed and collaborated with Sue since 2006, defines microdiscrimination as “common verbal, behavioral, or circumstantial insults that express hostility, demeaning, negative belittling or insulting”. A modern example is gendered bathrooms, which Rivera says are subtly ways of telling transgender and non-binary people that they don’t belong in society.

“Every major system in the United States has microdiscrimination embedded in it because microdiscrimination exists on top of systemic oppression,” Rivera said. “These systems are not going away anytime soon, so more must Many people receive relevant education, so that there will be no more micro-discrimination in our daily life.”

Marcus very much agrees with this. She said she wrote the book to bring everyone, especially men in leadership positions, into discussions about these issues, to foster mutual understanding, and ultimately to change these behaviors and the culture. As marketers by training, the authors of this book hope that we will describe microdiscrimination in more concrete terms, rather than in vague terms.

Marcus added: “We’re not promoting cancel culture. We’ve spent a lot of time trying to really bring men and leaders into the conversation. We’re not just about exposing, we’re more about wanting to Invitation. We often say that if you want to test whether you are micro-discriminating, you can ask yourself this question: “If you want to say this to a black woman, would you say it to a white man?” “

Rivera shared Sue’s recently published book Microintervention Strategies: What You Can Do to Disarm and Dismantle Individual and Systemic Racism and Bias ( Microintervention Strategies: What You Can Do to Disarm and Dismantle Individual and Systemic Racism and Bias ). Four steps:

1. Make microdiscrimination visible to all. When micro-discrimination occurs, speak up, make it clear to the discriminator how insulting their remarks are, and enlist others to confirm your views.

2. Let the discriminator put down his hostility. Use verbal and nonverbal communication to express your attitude, ask discriminators how they feel about their micro-discriminatory behavior, and clearly state your boundaries.

3. Educate discriminators. Recognize that walking the talk can be difficult, be empathetic, and question when the other side expresses silence or indifference to micro-discrimination.

4. Seek external support . Seek support through partners, support groups and counseling.

Marcus believes that the following points need to be done in the workplace:

1. Intervene, not spectate. If you see micro-discrimination against a marginalized individual or group, immediately question it and make it clear that such behavior is unacceptable, even if the person being discriminated against is not present.

2. Pay close attention to the social dynamics in the office. This is especially needed for managers and executives, who may have become desensitized to cliques and personal relationships among employees. Make sure everyone is included in work conversations and activities.

3. Attention to detail. Listening is about understanding, not just responding. Listen more carefully to the little things to see if there is a possibility that a positive culture in the office may be being undermined by your neglect.

Creary, Marcus, and Rivera stress that eliminating microdiscrimination is a slow journey that won’t happen overnight. However, as long as we believe in this goal, work hard to resist micro-discrimination, and spread awareness against micro-discrimination, everyone can do better, so that everyone can be seen, heard and valued in the workplace and society .

“Culture doesn’t change because individual behaviors change,” Creary said. “There has to be a broad, large-scale ethos change to bring about change.”