Amy was an engineering student studying at Carson University, and she hailed from São Paulo, Brazil. A bright student wanting to pursue a career in medicine, her eyes were set on her goal. However, somewhere in the middle of her first semester at the university, she started facing insults from her colleagues on her tone, accent, and color. Amy was deeply disturbed by these insults, and this played a negative impact on her mind. Eventually, she started feeling isolated, and this led her into depression.
We often encounter such situations around us, but either we aren't aware of the ill effects of these actions or words, or we choose to ignore them because we feel they are unimportant. The workshop on 'Identifying and challenging microaggressions' was organized by the Diversity and Inclusion team of the Graduate Society of Women Engineers to shed light on this topic and to sensitize women studying in Graduate school about the negative impact of microaggressions on an individual's life. The workshop was conducted by the Social Justice Peer educators at Washington State University.
The event started by explaining terminologies in microaggressions. This article will try to reminisce the teachings of the workshop and highlight important takeaways of the session.
The terms described by the educators during the workshop were as follows:
After explaining these terms, the educators then highlighted the impact and effects that microaggressions can have on people that go through them. They divided the effects into four categories, i.e., psychological, behavioral, physiological, and social. Internalized oppression, trauma, fatigue, depression, and a compromised sense of identity were the most common adverse outcomes mentioned concerning psychological implications. Skepticism, forced compliance or complicity, rage or anger, and hopelessness were negative behavioral outcomes. High blood pressure or heart rate and a weakened immune system were indicators of physiological consequences. Under social impacts, they listed alienation, mistrust, threats to physical safety as the effects of microaggressions.
After explaining all these facets of microaggressions, an interactive session unfolded wherein the educators gave case studies to the audience and asked members to volunteer and identify the type of microaggression. During this session, they addressed classes of microaggressions such as racism, classism, ableism, and heterosexism, and through various examples and situations, they explained each of these classes. The classes were described as follows:
Racism: This term means assuming that people of a particular color are criminals, have notions of fetishization towards a person of a specific identity, or assume that people from a particular background have lower intellectual abilities.
Examples:
Classism: When a person's ability, character, and nature are judged based on their financial status, it is known as classism.
Examples:
Ableism: It deals with disbelieving or not acknowledging that a person has a disability, minimizing the disability or being less sensitive towards it, excluding students with disability from other students.
Examples:
Heterocissexism: This term refers to people using heterosexist remarks, disapproval of queer experiences, assumption of sexual pathology, and abnormality.
Examples:
After explaining and helping with identifying different microaggressions, the team gave us tips on how we could reduce microaggressions on our own.
The tips were as follows:
Till then, stay tuned for more such workshops by D&I GradSWE!
Equality is the soul of liberty; there is, in fact, no liberty without it.
~ Frances Wright
Signup for the GradSWE D&I email list: https://forms.office.com/r/5kLcue3XJS
Faith Dias
Webinar Coordinator
FY22 GradSWE Diversity and Inclusion Team
We often encounter such situations around us, but either we aren't aware of the ill effects of these actions or words, or we choose to ignore them because we feel they are unimportant. The workshop on 'Identifying and challenging microaggressions' was organized by the Diversity and Inclusion team of the Graduate Society of Women Engineers to shed light on this topic and to sensitize women studying in Graduate school about the negative impact of microaggressions on an individual's life. The workshop was conducted by the Social Justice Peer educators at Washington State University.
The event started by explaining terminologies in microaggressions. This article will try to reminisce the teachings of the workshop and highlight important takeaways of the session.
The terms described by the educators during the workshop were as follows:
- Microassaults: This is a conscious and deliberate form of verbal or non-verbal branding of an individual based on their identity.
Example: Using the sentence, 'That's so gay,' is a conscious choice of words mouthed by an individual who brands the other as gay. - Microinvalidations: This is a form of microaggression that deals with unconsciously or unintentionally invalidating a person's experiences coming from a marginalized community.
Example: Communicating to students of lower financial status that their educational experience shouldn't be affected due to their situation. - Microinsults: This refers to unconscious or unintentional rudeness demeaning a person's identity.
Example: The statement, "You speak English so well," indicates that people of that identity do not speak English well.
After explaining these terms, the educators then highlighted the impact and effects that microaggressions can have on people that go through them. They divided the effects into four categories, i.e., psychological, behavioral, physiological, and social. Internalized oppression, trauma, fatigue, depression, and a compromised sense of identity were the most common adverse outcomes mentioned concerning psychological implications. Skepticism, forced compliance or complicity, rage or anger, and hopelessness were negative behavioral outcomes. High blood pressure or heart rate and a weakened immune system were indicators of physiological consequences. Under social impacts, they listed alienation, mistrust, threats to physical safety as the effects of microaggressions.
After explaining all these facets of microaggressions, an interactive session unfolded wherein the educators gave case studies to the audience and asked members to volunteer and identify the type of microaggression. During this session, they addressed classes of microaggressions such as racism, classism, ableism, and heterosexism, and through various examples and situations, they explained each of these classes. The classes were described as follows:
Racism: This term means assuming that people of a particular color are criminals, have notions of fetishization towards a person of a specific identity, or assume that people from a particular background have lower intellectual abilities.
Examples:
- Clutching your purse when you see a person of color approach you.
- Considering Latinas as spicy.
- Asking students of other nationalities if they could keep up in the class.
Classism: When a person's ability, character, and nature are judged based on their financial status, it is known as classism.
Examples:
- People in poverty can attain social mobility only if they work harder.
- Working-class people are criminals or bad parents.
- Assuming working-class people as uneducated or bigoted.
Ableism: It deals with disbelieving or not acknowledging that a person has a disability, minimizing the disability or being less sensitive towards it, excluding students with disability from other students.
Examples:
- I would have never guessed that you have a disability.
- We all have a disability of some kind.
- Training only a few teachers to deal with students who have a disability.
Heterocissexism: This term refers to people using heterosexist remarks, disapproval of queer experiences, assumption of sexual pathology, and abnormality.
Examples:
- That's so gay.
- I don't care if you're gay; just don't behave like that around me or my kids.
- Notions that bisexual people are promiscuous or assuming that transgender women will sexually assault a cisgender woman in a bathroom.
After explaining and helping with identifying different microaggressions, the team gave us tips on how we could reduce microaggressions on our own.
The tips were as follows:
- Listening to and allying with people who report discrimination
- Challenging our own biases
- Being humble enough to own up and apologize
- Intervening and providing support to those facing discrimination
Till then, stay tuned for more such workshops by D&I GradSWE!
Equality is the soul of liberty; there is, in fact, no liberty without it.
~ Frances Wright
Signup for the GradSWE D&I email list: https://forms.office.com/r/5kLcue3XJS
Faith Dias
Webinar Coordinator
FY22 GradSWE Diversity and Inclusion Team
