What Is a Microaggression, and How to Address in the Workplace (With Examples)

It is 1947. Chester Pierce, a talented athlete, walks onto a football field – nothing unusual for a college student. For Chester though, a point has just been scored. He is the first African-American football player to compete at college level in America.

In 1969, now a Harvard psychiatrist, he coined the term “microaggression.” Dr Pierce experienced blatant racism throughout his life. But he noticed that even in seemingly “equal” environments, quietly racist slights pervaded the atmosphere. These could be either intentional or unintentional, and were often based on unconscious bias.

Too subtle to seem to merit calling out, microaggressions layer on top of each other. Each one too thin to be acknowledged, they wrap up the injured party like bandages on a mummy. Often there is an illusion (perhaps even an intention) of goodwill, but the result is suffocation and constraint.

What Are Microaggressions?

Microaggressions are comments or actions that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally express prejudiced attitudes toward a member of marginalized groups.

The “micro” part refers to the subtlety of the act, not the impact.

The “aggression” component may appear as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It could look like a compliment, or an expression of pleasant surprise. Because microaggressions can be conducted with either a neutral or even positive intention, they can be hard to pin down, and even harder to call out.

Unlike deliberate discriminatory actions, microaggressions typically emerge out of unconscious bias. The person on the receiving end may feel invalidated and uncomfortable but struggle to put into words why they feel that way. Let’s look at an example.

Olga is from Estonia in Eastern Europe. She has lived in the U.S. for seven years; she speaks English fluently but doesn’t have an American accent. Often when she meets people for the first time, they joke – asking if she is a secret agent. Based on a Western movie stereotype of Eastern European accents, the implicit message is that she is untrustworthy. Because of the jovial and open body language of the microaggressor, she feels that she can’t say anything. They were just being “friendly” after all.

Microaggressive statements are typically based on stereotypes and assumptions that negate the individualism of the person targeted.

Though originally used in the context of race, the term microaggression can now be used to refer to subtle snubs or slights against anyone based on real or assumed group identity. Microaggressions can target individuals based on their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, socio-economic status, or other aspects of their identity. Anyone can be a target of microaggressions, though historically marginalized groups are at higher risk.

Microaggressions are harmful because of its volume throughout everyday life. It’s one thing to brush off a single insensitive comment, but when incidents are regular and remain unaddressed, the cumulative effects become unbearable.

Microaggressions and Workplace Incivility

Workplace incivility is defined by Anderson and Pearson as “low intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target.” Microaggressions can be considered a subset of this, with the distinction that they typically harm people on the basis of group identity.

Types of Microaggressions

In his 2007 paper, Derald Wing Sue classifies microaggressions into three categories:

• Microassaults are deliberate and intentional slights or insults meant to hurt the intended victim. These are conscious and closest to archetypical forms of bigotry. The subtlety of microassaults is in the broad strokes they paint, which typically lump individuals into stereotyped group identities.
• Microinsults are comments or actions that communicate disrespect or disregard.
• Microinvalidations are behaviors or omissions that dismiss or deny the experiences of minority groups.

Type of Microaggressions	Characteristics	Examples	Message	Type of Bias
Microassault	Directed words and/or actions intended to marginalize the other person.	• You’re such a boomer! • You’re so weird. Why don’t you just go home?	• Your age makes you out of touch. • You don’t belong here.	Conscious
Microinsult	Insensitive communications, sometimes intended as compliments, but perpetuate harmful stereotypes.	• You’re so exotic, I bet you have no problem finding a man. • You’re very articulate for someone of your background.	• You are “alien” to this country; your value is in your looks. • People of lower socio-economic status speak in a less “sophisticated” way.	Unconscious
Microinvalidation	Verbal/behavioral cues or omissions that nullify the experiential reality of certain groups of people.	• You don’t look like a lesbian. • Man up!	• Your sexuality should define your self-expression. • Men aren’t allowed to express hurt/disappointment.	Unconscious

Expressions of othering are most obvious when they come in verbal form, as in the examples above. However, they can also be expressed through body language, environmental cues, and discriminatory decision-making practices.

Effects of Microaggressions in the Workplace

Microaggressions are corrosive. Not only do microaggressions chip away at psychological safety and undermine trust, but they also contribute to an exclusionary workplace culture. Over time microaggressions create barriers to engagement, innovation, and collaboration, making it harder for individuals—especially those from underrepresented groups—to feel valued and included.

It damages mental health.

The initial impact on mental health includes feelings of anger, sadness, and frustration. In the moment microaggressions may manifest as confusion. If experienced frequently and left unaddressed, resentment can build. Long-term microaggressions have been linked with anxiety, depression, and even post-traumatic stress disorder.

It has a ripple effect on physical health.

As the mind and the body are connected, it’s no surprise that physical symptoms are reported in the wake of microaggressions. These include health issues such as high blood pressure, weight change, and sleeplessness.

It harms workplace performance.

Self-efficacy (the self-belief you are capable of achieving something) is a key performance indicator, regardless of natural skill level. So when an individual repeatedly receives “second-class” workplace treatment or is treated as though they are not as capable as their colleagues, they may perform poorly as a result. Lim and Cortina’s 2005 paper on gender-based microaggressions reports a reduction in performance, creativity, and helpfulness among recipients of ill treatment.

Feelings of isolation, hypervigilance, and chronic stress could also make it challenging for individuals to work in team settings.

If you have experienced prejudice in the workplace, seek support from sympathetic colleagues and loved ones. You may also find it helpful to reach out to a mental health professional.

Examples of Microaggressions in the Workplace

In the classic movie Legally Blonde, Elle’s ex-boyfriend is shocked to discover she plans to become a lawyer. “You got into Harvard Law?” he splutters.

The implication? Because she is an attractive blonde and not from “old money,” she couldn’t possibly be smart enough or serious enough to study law at an Ivy League college.

The sexist undertone continues to undercut the film when the law professor is willing to invest in male students but doesn’t deem the female students worthy. While in a work meeting, only a female law intern is required to leave to make coffee; the message here is that secretary-type hospitality is a woman’s job.

Between competition for promotions and water cooler chats, the workplace is a breeding ground for microaggressions. While Elle shatters her glass ceiling in satisfying storybook fashion, the reality of tackling prejudice in the workplace is not so simple.

The first step is to look up and acknowledge it.

In the context of the workplace where employees need to contend with the nuances of workplace culture and a professional code of conduct, it can be even harder to identify prejudice and speak up against it.

Nonverbal microaggressions can include body language, such as avoiding eye contact or crossing one’s arms. In the movie Hidden Figures, mathematical genius Katherine Johnson works for NASA. As an African-American woman in an almost entirely all-white, all-male environment, she repeatedly endures the insult of not being seen. Though more competent and intelligent than most of her colleagues, she is repeatedly ignored and treated as untrustworthy (e.g., not being given access to the classified documents she requires to do her job). This is a textbook example of a racial microaggression.

Environmental slights can include a lack of representation, inclusion, and diversity in the workplace. Think Colette, the “toughest cook in the kitchen” from Disney’s Ratatouille, and also the only female one.

A default and rigid cultural expression is another environmental obstacle to individuals feeling at ease in their occupation. For example, speaking in a highly animated tone may be an expression of enthusiasm in one culture, but be perceived as unprofessional in another.

How to Prevent Microaggressions in the Workplace

Ideally, you want to nip microaggressions in the bud before they develop. A little proactivity today is far better than workplace breakdowns tomorrow. Here are some key strategies that will help.

Educate and raise awareness

Educational measures are the first port of call for preventing microaggressions in the workplace. In the words of Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Sure, this could take the form of educational workshops about microaggressions to help raise awareness about their dangers. But a more approachable (and fun!) option, particularly for the prevention of ethnicity-based microaggressions, is to create opportunities for cultural sharing.

Think multi-national potlucks or decorating the office for Chinese New Year. People often mock what they don’t understand, so when you create opportunities for cultural appreciation, you widen peoples’ worldviews and reduce ethnocentric thinking.

It’s important to note that education is more than just information sharing. It’s about teaching people to think critically, that is, to balance and analyze the information they are given and come to their own conclusions. In 2022, Forbes reported that the teaching of critical thinking in American schools (particularly for older students) is in decline. Worrying, given that critical thinking is one of the most powerful ways to become aware of and move past cognitive biases.

With workplace mentoring programs, you can reverse this by teaching mentees to challenge pre-conceived notions and develop active listening skills.

Practice microaffirmations

A microaffirmation is the opposite of a microaggression. While a microaggression puts someone down on the basis of their group identity, microaffirmations are small, encouraging actions you can take to help people feel included.

Here are some ideas below:

• Use positive body language, such as smiling and nodding to acknowledge people.
• Give credit where it is due for work ideas and projects.
• Give congratulations on key celebrations and life milestones.
• Make an effort to learn and pronounce names.
• Ensure that feminine hygiene bins are available in all bathrooms for use by women and gender non-conforming individuals.

Provide a safe space for discussion

Bringing the strands of education and microaffirmations together, one of the most important things your organization can do is to provide a safe space for employees to discuss, share, and support one another. These may take the form of employee resource groups (ERGs) that connect employees with shared backgrounds or interests.

For underrepresented groups, ERGs are an opportunity to establish a collective voice through which to communicate their needs. To foster a culture of open communication, these groups could also take the form of collaborative discussion sessions for people of all backgrounds.

While ERGs are often led and run by employees, this doesn’t mean that support from organizations won’t be appreciated. What’s more, a successful ERG requires planning, organizing events, and keeping members engaged, to name a few, all of which often sit on top of group leaders’ day-to-day responsibilities. This is exactly why big players like UKG and Dell leverage our ERG Management Software to organize and manage ERGs at scale; book a demo and see how we can help you, too.

Develop advocacy skills

Due to the public nature of advocating for a cause, developing advocacy skills may seem daunting at first. Rest assured, you don’t need to make a stand-up speech at your office if it isn’t your style!

Advocacy is about speaking up for rights in whichever way feels most natural to you. Whether you go for writing an email to human resources, being an ally, or even setting up an ERG yourself, the following are good advocacy guidelines to follow:

1. Identify goals: What do you want to achieve?
2. Develop a strategy: How do you want to achieve it?
3. Communicate clearly, calmly, and confidently: Why is this important to you?
4. Ask questions: What do you need to know?
5. Affirm and communicate back the agreed line of action: Who is doing what and when?
6. Express gratitude: Thank recipients of the message for their time and attention.

These above strategies are excellent ways to grab the steering wheel and take initiative by pre-empting unmet needs/rights.

But what happens when they don’t work?

How to Respond to Microaggressions in the Workplace

Addressing microaggressions as a concept is one thing; responding to actual incidents is another. That said, context matters—who is involved, the setting, and the severity. And remember, as we mentioned earlier, microaggressions are often unintentional, meaning anyone can be on either side of them—giving, receiving, or even witnessing them.

If you experience microaggressions

1. Write down exactly what happened and how it made you feel: angry, frustrated, confused? Putting the incident on paper is a powerful way to validate personal experiences that others may seek to minimize. You don’t need to share what you write with anyone, but it may serve as a helpful template for what you want to communicate if you choose to call the microaggression out.
2. Decide whether or not to address the offense. This will depend on your relationship with the person and whether you feel you have the capacity for a potentially difficult conversation.
3. If you decide to address the microaggression, do so directly and privately. People tend to get more defensive when they are called out in public. While their feelings aren’t your responsibility, a private meeting is more likely to end in the result you are hoping for, i.e., that they acknowledge the wrong and don’t do it again. Private doesn’t necessarily mean alone, though. Bringing a sympathetic colleague to witness and/or mediate the conversation may help you feel more at ease.
4. Some people will listen empathetically, recognize the hurt, and apologize immediately. You may, however, receive a response on some variation of “I didn’t mean it like that.” Often people genuinely don’t know if they have behaved inappropriately. You may wish to reiterate that while you appreciate that it wasn’t their intention to cause harm, you experienced a negative impact from the incident.
5. Gain clarification. Ask questions like “What did you mean by that?” or “What led you to that conclusion?” This curiosity approach may open up a wider discussion and reveal the nature of the unconscious bias at play. In the best-case scenario, the instigator of the offense may self-correct when forced into a position of analyzing their actions.
6. State how you want to move forward. While we cannot control other people’s actions, we can set boundaries to communicate the way we expect to be treated.
7. If incidents are severe or persistent, and your boundaries aren’t being respected even after clear communication, you may wish to consider involving a supervisor (or Human Resources in cases when your manager/supervisor is the person who gave offense).

If you witness a microaggression

1. If a specific person has been targeted, check in with them, validate what happened, and ask if they need support. Everyone is different, so respect if they don’t wish to dwell on the topic.
2. Challenge what has been communicated. This could mean asking questions or providing an alternative view, e.g., “I haven’t personally found that to be true.”

If you are accused of a microaggression

1. Take a moment to pause. Nobody likes receiving criticism; it’s human nature to want to defend ourselves when we perceive an “attack.” Try to remember that the person calling you out probably doesn’t want to be having the conversation any more than you do.
2. Listen without judgment. This is easier said than done, especially when we feel we have been misperceived.
3. Repeat back what you hear to make sure you understand the other person’s perspective. For example, “So what I’m hearing is that when I refer to women as “girls,” it comes across as patronizing?”
4. Ask questions to try and understand the other person’s perspective.
5. Apologize and make best efforts to avoid offensive statements/actions in the future.

While living and working in diverse communities, we need to be mindful of other world views. As human beings, it is normal to make mistakes – at times, we may cause accidental offense contrary to our intention. The important thing is to be open to listening to our colleagues and developing a conscious awareness of when identity stereotypes subconsciously influence our communication.

Criticism of the Concept of Microaggressions

While many find the concept of “microaggressions” a helpful framework to use for the validation of their lived experiences, there are three main arguments against it.

Culture of Victimhood

There is concern that an over-fixation on microaggressions may contribute to a culture of victimhood, where individuals feel the need to constantly seek validation and protection. Certain group identities may become associated with victimhood, with internal biases projected onto the actions of others.

Ambiguity

In many cases, prejudice is in the eye of the beholder. What is a microaggression to one individual of a marginalized group may be considered supportive to another of the same group. Lilienfield elucidates:

“…both (a) ignoring and (b) attending to minority students in classrooms have been deemed to be microaggressions by some authors: One researcher regarded “teachers ignoring the raised hands of Asian American students in classrooms” (Lin, 2010, p. 89) as a microaggression, whereas another regarded “compliment[ing] the student with a remark such as ‘That was a most articulate, intelligent, and insightful analysis’” (Sue, 2010a, p. 13) as a microaggression. Classifying both actions as microaggressions potentially places teachers in a double bind…”

Misleading Terminology

The term “microaggressions” is a challenge for some to get behind. Firstly, because “micro” implies insignificance. Given that the impact of microaggressions is often significant, the use of the term “micro” can be confusing. Combined with the connotation of violence the word “aggression” holds for most people, the use of the term may make it harder for individuals to be open to dialogue.

There is no place for microaggressions.

Though it is helpful to consider the above nuances, they do not negate the lived experiences of marginalized groups. In ambiguous cases, assumed goodwill may be a helpful starting point to open up wider dialogue. While the terminology may be considered misleading, it’s important to remember that the concept still stands. And when 1 in 5 Americans encounter microaggressions daily, we need to listen.

Addressing microaggressions is essential for the health of employees and, by extension, the health of the organization. Book a demo and see for yourself how our ERG solutions can help.