Anxieties about microaggressions rise as in-person work returns
CBC
As pandemic restrictions ease, more employees are returning to work in person, causing anxiety about discrimination for some.
Working from home meant fewer in-person interactions with co-workers, so fewer chances for microaggressions such as being confused for another BIPOC co-worker by a white manager, being scrutinized by security or having your name constantly mispronounced.
Stephanie Yung, a creative director with Toronto firm Zulu Alpha Kilo, has developed a new tool to educate workers and combat those microaggressions.
It's called The Micropedia of Microaggressions, an online encyclopedia of everyday snubs and insults that marginalized groups face. They're often subtle comments or actions that come from implicit bias or stereotypes.
"How can we change something that we don't know?" said Yung. She's faced microaggressions herself, including being asked where she's really from or being told to smile more.
"Research shows that while less obvious than overt forms of discrimination, [microaggressions] really take a significant toll both mentally and physically," said Yung. "The last three years has been really challenging for so many different reasons. And I feel like mental well-being is top of mind for everyone."
WATCH | New digital resource aims to educate and comabt microaggressions:
The Black Business and Professional Association helped with the development of the tool, along with a number of other Canadian diversity and inclusion groups.
"I think this is an opportunity for corporate Canada to really look at the factors that impede and affect our employees and look at this tool as an opportunity to understand and learn behaviours that impact individuals, said association CEO Nadine Spencer.
Spencer said remote work was a break from microaggressions for some, but she is hearing from members that anxiety is emerging with discussions of in-person working returning.
"The fear now comes back and that lack of confidence now comes back to individuals who are going to be working in an environment where they might experience these microaggressions," said Spencer.
WATCH | Black Business and Professional Association says some are anxious about returning to the office in-person:
In a recent survey of Black Canadians, 44 per cent said they have not experienced any microaggressions or discrimination over the last year and a half and 24 per cent said they have experienced fewer microaggressions.
"While overall, Black Canadians are facing less racism at work, it is still an ugly reality for many," said Rob Davis, chief inclusion and diversity officer with KPMG, which conducted the poll.
