August 6, 2025 • 21 mins
Microaggressions interfere with the learning process and damage class community. In this episode, Kaija Hoyt joins us to provide a student’s perspective on microaggressions and strategies to address them. Kaija graduated from SUNY Oswego in May 2025 with a major in Human Resource Management and a minor in Mathematics. She completed an honors thesis on “Mitigating Microaggressions in the Workplace.” and recently provided a workshop presentation on microaggressions to SUNY-Oswego faculty and staff.
A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.
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(00:00):
Microaggressions interfere with the learning process and damage class
community. In this episode, we explore a student’s perspective on microaggressions
and strategies to address them. Thanks for joining us for Tea for Teaching,
(00:20):
an informal discussion of innovative and effective practices in teaching and learning.
This podcast series is hosted by John Kane, an economist...
...and Rebecca Mushtare, a graphic designer......and features guests doing important research
and advocacy work to make higher education more inclusive and supportive of all learners.
(00:48):
Our guest today is Kaija Hoyt. Kaija graduated from SUNY Oswego in May 2025 with a major in
Human Resource Management and a minor in Mathematics. She completed an honors
thesis on “Mitigating Microaggressions in the Workplace.” and recently provided
a workshop presentation on microaggressions to SUNY-Oswego faculty and staff. Welcome Kaija.
(01:11):
Thank you for having me.Today's teas are: Kaija,
are you drinking tea with us today? Yes, I have a chai tea today.
Oh, nice. Are you drinking some tea today, John?
I have a ginger peach green tea today.Nice. I am drinking Harsha black tea today.
We've invited you here today to discuss microaggressions in the
(01:32):
context of higher ed Could you start by defining what a microaggression is?
Sure, so microaggressions are commonplace slights or insults. They're usually subtle,
ambiguous and unintentional, and they're based on marginalized social identities. So if you don't
know what a marginalized social identity is, it's usually something related to historically
(01:53):
marginalized groups or minority groups. So African Americans, Jewish, if you're female,
if you identify as non binary, or transgender, if you're gay, anything like that is a marginalized
social identity, and that's what micro aggressions are usually based on. They can also be statements,
behaviors, actions, anything of that sort. So it's not necessarily words that are said.
(02:17):
It can also just be behaviors that happen.Can you share some examples of microaggressions
that students might experience in a classroom environment,
from either faculty or from other students?Sure. So there's a lot of them, and there's a
lot of research and sources out there, if people want to look up more, you can easily find them.
But some main ones would be professors maybe only calling on the male students in the class,
(02:40):
or when choosing groups, maybe the white identifying students all join one group and leave
people of other races to join their own group. You could also have like in a group project, sometimes
the male students won't listen to the female students’ opinions, or during a presentation
they'll speak over the female students things like that. So basically, any situation where a
(03:03):
professor or student is just treating someone else like they don't belong in the classroom,
or that their opinion is not valid, and they can happen in any situation in the classroom.
Have you experienced any microaggressions during your time here at SUNY Oswego,
and if so, could you tell us about it?Oh, yes, so many. It's very unfortunate how
often they happen. But they are unintentional, so it's not surprising that they happen a lot.
(03:28):
One of the biggest ones that I experienced in my time at SUNY Oswego actually happened to me,
I think, freshman year, so it was very early on… kind of set the tone for my experience…
was with a professor repeatedly asking me about my name. Could never say it right,
like the entire semester, he never got it right. He didn't get it right a single time, even though
I told him multiple times, they gave him plenty of tricks to remember it, and he didn't, he didn't
(03:50):
get it. But then he kept asking me where I was from, and I'm from New York, a born and raised
New Yorker. And so I kept telling him that, but he didn't seem to believe it. And he kept asking me
over and over again. And then he would ask, like, where are your parents from? Things like that,
which kind of suggested to me that he didn't think that I belong in America, that my name
(04:11):
meant that I couldn't be American, and that just really negatively impacted my experience in that
classroom. I did not participate much in that class, and I didn't really want to talk to him.
Can you talk about some of the harms that result from microaggressions?
Yeah, so there's multiple sides to the problems that come from microaggressions,
there's physical, mental, if it's in a workplace, there's the work effects,
(04:35):
and then there's also the academic impacts. So from a mental standpoint,
it increases depression, anxiety, stress, sleep deprivation, suicidal ideation, substance abuse,
all of those really negative things that people experience that really impact their mental health,
which then impacts every aspect of their life, and especially when you're someone from a marginalized
(04:58):
group or multiple marginalized groups, and they happen so often to you, so many times,
it really builds up and creates these negative ideas. You feel like you don't belong. Your self
esteem is less, and things like that. Then, from a physical standpoint, this is the part
that's really shocking to me, is that it actually impacts your physical health as well. So it can
(05:19):
lead to higher blood pressure and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Those are things that
are obviously not good for your physical health, and they don't lead to long-term life and things
like that, so it's really detrimental in those ways. And then there's also the academic impacts.
So for students, when they're experiencing them from other students and from professors,
(05:40):
they'll participate less in class. They might not go to class because they don't feel safe in the
classroom. They won't complete assignments. They may be afraid to share their opinions
and discussion board posts or anything like that, and their performance overall will just decrease,
which hurts their grades and hurts just their learning as well.
So earlier you mentioned the groups of students who are most likely to be affected,
(06:02):
these also seem to be the groups that are most likely to be subject to stereotype threat and
other barriers that can interfere with their progress in school. What impact does this
have on the prospect of people graduating or being successful in their programs?
So microaggressions are probably one of the many reasons that people from marginalized
(06:23):
identities struggle more in college. So they already have a bunch of setbacks that come
from discrimination and systemic things like that, but microaggressions make it even harder for them,
because they're already pushing through so much and now they feel like they don't
belong. Definitely, I'm sure, it decreases the graduation rates and things like that. And
even if they do graduate, they probably didn't get as high of grades as other students. So a
(06:46):
lot of the times you'll see, like at any school, that it's primarily white men who are graduating
from the school at microaggressions are probably a big impact on that.
How should faculty respond when they may have committed a microaggression,
obviously, not intentionally? What's the best way for them to respond? Or really,
anyone who might be in a position of power? Yeah. So if someone comes to you and says that you
(07:09):
committed a microaggression, the first thing you want to do is make sure that you're not getting
defensive about it, because it's not an attack on your character. Everyone commits microaggressions,
and they have negative impacts, but it doesn't make you a horrible person because you committed
them. It was probably unintentional and you didn't know. So the main thing is keeping calm,
(07:29):
stopping yourself from being defensive, and making sure that you're open to the feedback that they're
providing you. So once you come and get yourself in that head space of like, okay, this is not an
attack. I can listen to what they're saying. You want to make sure that you're actually listening
to what they tell you about how it affected them, things like that. Be empathetic. Think about times
(07:50):
when maybe microaggressions were committed against you, or when you've been excluded in any context,
and then the main thing is committing to change. So you want to make sure that you're showing that
student or colleague, or whoever it is, that you hear them, you understand the problem and
you're going to do better moving forward. So if it's that example with the professor that
(08:11):
I had who kept asking me where I'm from, like, if I'd brought that to his attention and said,
“Hey, this is a problem, because it makes me feel excluded, it suggests that I can't belong here,”
then he would need to commit to saying, like, “Okay, in the future, if I have a question about
“where someone's from, I'll only ask it once, or I just want to ask it at all,” something like that,
(08:33):
and then making sure that you follow up later and you check in with that person, you say,
“Hey, how are you doing? Are you doing okay? Is there anything else I can do to help you
deal with the situation?” Apologize, be honest. If you said it and you regret it,
you tell them that, be like, “Hey, I'm really sorry I didn't know. But moving forward,
I'll be more conscious of things like that, and I won't say those things or do those things.” So
(08:57):
that's the main part, I would say, is just being honest, open, and committing to that change.
When students are faced with microaggression, though, do they always let the person committing
them know? What might be a good response from the person who's a target of a microaggression?
We usually don't say anything, especially in the classroom, because there is that power dynamic.
(09:22):
So I know for me, when it happened with that professor, I never said anything to him because
I didn't feel safe talking to him about it, nor did I think that he cared, because he didn't seem
like he would have made any adjustments. So there are situations where you shouldn't say anything.
It's not safe, or it's not going to help. But when it does feel safer, when you think, “Okay, this
(09:43):
is something important.” Maybe it's a professor you're going to have three or four times. So you
might want to say something in that situation. You've got to decide whether to say something
first, because, like I said, it's not always safe, but once you do make that decision, you
can either say something in the moment, if it's safe situation, if it's a one-on-one, something
like that, or you can say something later. A lot of the times, I think for students, it's probably
(10:07):
safer to say something later, because you don't want to have to stand up in front of the whole
class and address it, right? So being aware that you don't have to address it in the moment. You
can address it later on, is really helpful. And just explaining to them the problem and how they
can move forward in a better way, act better in the future, maybe not say those things, things
like that, is really important for students.Sometimes microaggressions, though, come from
(10:32):
other students during a discussion where someone will say something that is offensive to some
of the other people in the class. How should faculty members respond if there is that sort
of student-to-student microsggression that occurs in class in real time.
Yeah, so that's tricky, because every situation is different,
but I would say if it's a whole class discussion and one student says something that is harmful
(10:56):
to another student or is a microaggression, professors should speak up in that moment,
but in a way that doesn't attack the student who said it, but maybe just to remind everyone that,
“hey, this is a safe space, and we need to respect each other and respect each other's differences,”
something like that would be very good. And then I would say, maybe after class or at a later date,
(11:17):
talk to that student one on one, and explain to them why what they said was a problem, because,
again, it's usually unintentional. They don't know that what they said is an issue. If it's
more of a small group discussion that you like overhear it happen, then I would say right there,
you can really sit down with them and have a conversation and let them know like what they said
was wrong and why, because it's not like you're calling them out in front of the whole class,
(11:41):
because that's really important, to not call someone out in front of a large group of people,
because they will get defensive, and it's not productive. And then the really important part is
after you want to check in with the target of the microaggression, so the student who experienced
it, or the student that it was aimed at, make sure that they're doing okay, and that they know that
(12:02):
you're there to support them, and that you will do your best to keep the classroom a safe space
for them, and then also ask them, like, is there anything that you can do better to stop that from
happening in the class? Because they probably know better than you will what needs to be changed.
You mentioned creating a safe space and reminding people that this is a safe space.
Is that something perhaps that all instructors should do at the start of classes to help set the
(12:26):
environment for good discussions and let people know that there may be issues coming up that you
might be offended by or you might be troubled by, and it's always important to voice that concern.
Would that be helpful to help set the stage and reminding them that any critiques should
be of what's said and not of the person per se.Yes, absolutely, so I would say in the syllabus or
(12:52):
in the day when you're going over the syllabus, to make it very clear to students that your classroom
is a safe space, that everyone is welcome and that it is not acceptable to be excluding anyone for
any reason, being upfront with that is really important, setting that tone. But I also think
it does depend on the class. So for example, if it's a gender and women's studies class,
(13:12):
that class is probably going to have a lot more of these difficult issues being brought up. So that
class may be diving deeper into it. These are the topics we're going to be discussing, it is
going to be hard conversations, things like that versus in more of a math class, not as applicable,
but still good to say. Like everyone's opinion is valid. Anyone can participate in this class.
(13:33):
You don't have to be good at math to participate in this class, things like that, so that everyone
knows that they're all safe in the classroom and setting that tone for other students like
you need to be respectful to your classmates.It strikes me, as you're talking that there's
often fear or an unwillingness to confront the person who might have committed a microaggression.
(13:55):
I wonder what the role of a bystander could be or should be, because they may also not
feel empowered to speak up. But what are some ways that a bystander might actually be able
to support folks in a situation like this.Yeah, so becoming an ally is really important.
When you witness a microaggression, when you see something like that happen, you want to be there
(14:18):
for the target. Maybe you're another professor, so you maybe don't have that power dynamic,
and you feel comfortable going to the person that committed it and saying something. Definitely do
that. But if you're another student and you don't feel safe addressing it with the professor, just
go to the target and talk to them about it, let them know like I saw what happened, if you want to
discuss it, I'm here like I understand that that may have been hurtful or upset you in any way.
(14:43):
If you need that support. I'm here for you, but it is really awesome if you feel safe doing it to say
something to the professor, because that really helps the target to feel safer, to feel included,
and it reverses the negative impacts from microaggressions. So instead of them walking
away feeling excluded in the classroom, they'll feel more included. It will prevent those negative
(15:07):
mental and physical health problems and probably improve their academic performance, because they
feel safe. So in any way that you can support someone who's struggling with microaggressions,
experiencing them a lot, it's really just be there for them, and that'll help them a lot.
So we've been mostly talking about things that are said in the classroom, but more and more
classes are being taken online in asynchronous modes. Might the same sort of things occur in
(15:33):
online discussion forums, for example? And if so, how should they be addressed then?
Yeah, they definitely can, especially in a class like a gender and women's studies class or I took
a management diversity class of some sort, that we did have a lot of those tough conversations.
We even talked about microaggressions in those classes, and there are students who
(15:54):
don't understand them and say things in the discussion posts that aren't very inclusive.
So as another student, what I sometimes will do is I will sometimes respond to those posts, and kind
of in a very polite and respectful way, explain to them that what they're saying is a problem, and in
a way that tries to not make them feel attacked, but more just an educational, but professors
(16:17):
definitely need to be monitoring those discussion posts, because things can happen, and then people
can say things that are microaggressions. It's very easy to do in words, because you're not
even looking at the person, so you don't feel as connected to them, and you don't necessarily think
about it as much as you might when you're face to face with someone. So if a professor sees it,
saying something to that student, may be taking that post down if they can, or even
(16:41):
just replying to the post and saying, “Hey, this isn't welcome in this space. This is a safe space,
and saying things like that are not okay.” If it's something really severe, if it's something
smaller, I think it's better to maybe shoot them an email and be like, hey, what you said was
wrong for this reason and moving forward, let's leave that out of the classroom environment.
How did you select this as a focus of study?.So I actually started in my junior year. Picked
(17:07):
my topic the end of sophomore year, and I came to this topic because in writing my honors thesis,
I knew I wanted it to be something relating to human resource management, because I wanted it
to be applicable to the field that I'm trying to go into and also something that interests me,
because I have to spend two years on this thesis, and you don't want to get bored. So I kind of went
(17:30):
over a lot of the topics that I've heard discussed in my classes. And Kristin Sotak taught one of the
HR classes. She's an amazing professor, and she touched on microaggressions, which was surprising,
because I didn't expect us to talk about it in that class, and it was kind of my first real
exposure to the topic. Even though I'd experienced them my whole life, I didn't really know that
(17:53):
there was a name for that. And so when she was explaining it, I got really interested in it.
And so it was one of the first things that popped into my head when I was thinking about a topic for
my honors thesis. So I did discuss that with her and my other thesis advisor, Dr. Friedman, and
we talked about doing that as my topic, because it was something that interests me, something
(18:14):
that's really important for the world that we live in. Because a lot of overt discrimination,
things like just choosing not to hire someone because of their race, things like that are
kind of fading out, but microaggressions are still very prominent and are still kind of perpetuating
that discrimination in a more subtle way and in a way that's a lot harder to fight. So I knew it
(18:34):
was something that was important. I knew it was something that interests me, and that's kind of
how I got into it. And then just the more research I did, the more I really enjoyed learning about it
and trying to figure out how to stop this problem. And originally my thesis was going to just be
a literature review of the current resources out there, but when I was talking to Kristin about it,
(18:58):
she kind of said, well, maybe you want to create a training program, something that will actually
have a real world impact. And I was like, “Yes, that sounds awesome.” And so I actually ended
up doing that. I didn't get to implement it as great as I wanted to. There weren't a lot
of people that I implemented it with, but it was really an amazing opportunity to really
dive into what microaggressions are and come up with a tangible solution for how to fight them,
(19:22):
mostly in the workplace, but also just in general. So that's kind of how I came to it, and then how
it became this whole thing where I do things like this, where I talk about microaggressions.
That’s great. We always wrap up by asking, what's next?
Yep. So it's really important to always be educating yourself. Do more research
(19:43):
on microaggressions, especially if it interests you, or if you realize, “Hey, I've been committing
those.” Look up more examples, so that you can be aware when you're going to commit them,
and just really commit to creating a safe space for students and for other faculty, and really for
anyone in this world, because everyone should feel included, and no matter where they are,
(20:03):
no matter what they're doing. So committing to that and always committing to growing as a person,
to being better. And when people come to you and say, “Hey, this is an area for
improvement,” accepting that openly, and then moving forward and being better.
And more specifically, what are you going to be doing now that you've graduated?
I currently don't know. I am moving to Grand Forks, North Dakota in August,
(20:27):
but I don't have a job lined up yet. I'm looking for something human resource management,
and hopefully can do more of this work. But it's all very unplanned right now.
Spoken like a true recent graduate. Well, thank you for joining us, and we
appreciate the workshops you've done, and good luck with your job search.
Thank you. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much.
(20:54):
If you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and leave a review on iTunes
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our Tea for Teaching Facebook page. You can find show notes, transcripts and
other materials on teaforteaching.com. Music by Michael Gary Brewer.
Microaggressions interfere with the learning process and damage class
community. In this episode, we explore a student’s perspective on microaggressions
and strategies to address them. Thanks for joining us for Tea for Teaching,
(00:20):
an informal discussion of innovative and effective practices in teaching and learning.
This podcast series is hosted by John Kane, an economist...
...and Rebecca Mushtare, a graphic designer......and features guests doing important research
and advocacy work to make higher education more inclusive and supportive of all learners.
(00:48):
Our guest today is Kaija Hoyt. Kaija graduated from SUNY Oswego in May 2025 with a major in
Human Resource Management and a minor in Mathematics. She completed an honors
thesis on “Mitigating Microaggressions in the Workplace.” and recently provided
a workshop presentation on microaggressions to SUNY-Oswego faculty and staff. Welcome Kaija.
(01:11):
Thank you for having me.Today's teas are: Kaija,
are you drinking tea with us today? Yes, I have a chai tea today.
Oh, nice. Are you drinking some tea today, John?
I have a ginger peach green tea today.Nice. I am drinking Harsha black tea today.
We've invited you here today to discuss microaggressions in the
(01:32):
context of higher ed Could you start by defining what a microaggression is?
Sure, so microaggressions are commonplace slights or insults. They're usually subtle,
ambiguous and unintentional, and they're based on marginalized social identities. So if you don't
know what a marginalized social identity is, it's usually something related to historically
(01:53):
marginalized groups or minority groups. So African Americans, Jewish, if you're female,
if you identify as non binary, or transgender, if you're gay, anything like that is a marginalized
social identity, and that's what micro aggressions are usually based on. They can also be statements,
behaviors, actions, anything of that sort. So it's not necessarily words that are said.
(02:17):
It can also just be behaviors that happen.Can you share some examples of microaggressions
that students might experience in a classroom environment,
from either faculty or from other students?Sure. So there's a lot of them, and there's a
lot of research and sources out there, if people want to look up more, you can easily find them.
But some main ones would be professors maybe only calling on the male students in the class,
(02:40):
or when choosing groups, maybe the white identifying students all join one group and leave
people of other races to join their own group. You could also have like in a group project, sometimes
the male students won't listen to the female students’ opinions, or during a presentation
they'll speak over the female students things like that. So basically, any situation where a
(03:03):
professor or student is just treating someone else like they don't belong in the classroom,
or that their opinion is not valid, and they can happen in any situation in the classroom.
Have you experienced any microaggressions during your time here at SUNY Oswego,
and if so, could you tell us about it?Oh, yes, so many. It's very unfortunate how
often they happen. But they are unintentional, so it's not surprising that they happen a lot.
(03:28):
One of the biggest ones that I experienced in my time at SUNY Oswego actually happened to me,
I think, freshman year, so it was very early on… kind of set the tone for my experience…
was with a professor repeatedly asking me about my name. Could never say it right,
like the entire semester, he never got it right. He didn't get it right a single time, even though
I told him multiple times, they gave him plenty of tricks to remember it, and he didn't, he didn't
(03:50):
get it. But then he kept asking me where I was from, and I'm from New York, a born and raised
New Yorker. And so I kept telling him that, but he didn't seem to believe it. And he kept asking me
over and over again. And then he would ask, like, where are your parents from? Things like that,
which kind of suggested to me that he didn't think that I belong in America, that my name
(04:11):
meant that I couldn't be American, and that just really negatively impacted my experience in that
classroom. I did not participate much in that class, and I didn't really want to talk to him.
Can you talk about some of the harms that result from microaggressions?
Yeah, so there's multiple sides to the problems that come from microaggressions,
there's physical, mental, if it's in a workplace, there's the work effects,
(04:35):
and then there's also the academic impacts. So from a mental standpoint,
it increases depression, anxiety, stress, sleep deprivation, suicidal ideation, substance abuse,
all of those really negative things that people experience that really impact their mental health,
which then impacts every aspect of their life, and especially when you're someone from a marginalized
(04:58):
group or multiple marginalized groups, and they happen so often to you, so many times,
it really builds up and creates these negative ideas. You feel like you don't belong. Your self
esteem is less, and things like that. Then, from a physical standpoint, this is the part
that's really shocking to me, is that it actually impacts your physical health as well. So it can
(05:19):
lead to higher blood pressure and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Those are things that
are obviously not good for your physical health, and they don't lead to long-term life and things
like that, so it's really detrimental in those ways. And then there's also the academic impacts.
So for students, when they're experiencing them from other students and from professors,
(05:40):
they'll participate less in class. They might not go to class because they don't feel safe in the
classroom. They won't complete assignments. They may be afraid to share their opinions
and discussion board posts or anything like that, and their performance overall will just decrease,
which hurts their grades and hurts just their learning as well.
So earlier you mentioned the groups of students who are most likely to be affected,
(06:02):
these also seem to be the groups that are most likely to be subject to stereotype threat and
other barriers that can interfere with their progress in school. What impact does this
have on the prospect of people graduating or being successful in their programs?
So microaggressions are probably one of the many reasons that people from marginalized
(06:23):
identities struggle more in college. So they already have a bunch of setbacks that come
from discrimination and systemic things like that, but microaggressions make it even harder for them,
because they're already pushing through so much and now they feel like they don't
belong. Definitely, I'm sure, it decreases the graduation rates and things like that. And
even if they do graduate, they probably didn't get as high of grades as other students. So a
(06:46):
lot of the times you'll see, like at any school, that it's primarily white men who are graduating
from the school at microaggressions are probably a big impact on that.
How should faculty respond when they may have committed a microaggression,
obviously, not intentionally? What's the best way for them to respond? Or really,
anyone who might be in a position of power? Yeah. So if someone comes to you and says that you
(07:09):
committed a microaggression, the first thing you want to do is make sure that you're not getting
defensive about it, because it's not an attack on your character. Everyone commits microaggressions,
and they have negative impacts, but it doesn't make you a horrible person because you committed
them. It was probably unintentional and you didn't know. So the main thing is keeping calm,
(07:29):
stopping yourself from being defensive, and making sure that you're open to the feedback that they're
providing you. So once you come and get yourself in that head space of like, okay, this is not an
attack. I can listen to what they're saying. You want to make sure that you're actually listening
to what they tell you about how it affected them, things like that. Be empathetic. Think about times
(07:50):
when maybe microaggressions were committed against you, or when you've been excluded in any context,
and then the main thing is committing to change. So you want to make sure that you're showing that
student or colleague, or whoever it is, that you hear them, you understand the problem and
you're going to do better moving forward. So if it's that example with the professor that
(08:11):
I had who kept asking me where I'm from, like, if I'd brought that to his attention and said,
“Hey, this is a problem, because it makes me feel excluded, it suggests that I can't belong here,”
then he would need to commit to saying, like, “Okay, in the future, if I have a question about
“where someone's from, I'll only ask it once, or I just want to ask it at all,” something like that,
(08:33):
and then making sure that you follow up later and you check in with that person, you say,
“Hey, how are you doing? Are you doing okay? Is there anything else I can do to help you
deal with the situation?” Apologize, be honest. If you said it and you regret it,
you tell them that, be like, “Hey, I'm really sorry I didn't know. But moving forward,
I'll be more conscious of things like that, and I won't say those things or do those things.” So
(08:57):
that's the main part, I would say, is just being honest, open, and committing to that change.
When students are faced with microaggression, though, do they always let the person committing
them know? What might be a good response from the person who's a target of a microaggression?
We usually don't say anything, especially in the classroom, because there is that power dynamic.
(09:22):
So I know for me, when it happened with that professor, I never said anything to him because
I didn't feel safe talking to him about it, nor did I think that he cared, because he didn't seem
like he would have made any adjustments. So there are situations where you shouldn't say anything.
It's not safe, or it's not going to help. But when it does feel safer, when you think, “Okay, this
(09:43):
is something important.” Maybe it's a professor you're going to have three or four times. So you
might want to say something in that situation. You've got to decide whether to say something
first, because, like I said, it's not always safe, but once you do make that decision, you
can either say something in the moment, if it's safe situation, if it's a one-on-one, something
like that, or you can say something later. A lot of the times, I think for students, it's probably
(10:07):
safer to say something later, because you don't want to have to stand up in front of the whole
class and address it, right? So being aware that you don't have to address it in the moment. You
can address it later on, is really helpful. And just explaining to them the problem and how they
can move forward in a better way, act better in the future, maybe not say those things, things
like that, is really important for students.Sometimes microaggressions, though, come from
(10:32):
other students during a discussion where someone will say something that is offensive to some
of the other people in the class. How should faculty members respond if there is that sort
of student-to-student microsggression that occurs in class in real time.
Yeah, so that's tricky, because every situation is different,
but I would say if it's a whole class discussion and one student says something that is harmful
(10:56):
to another student or is a microaggression, professors should speak up in that moment,
but in a way that doesn't attack the student who said it, but maybe just to remind everyone that,
“hey, this is a safe space, and we need to respect each other and respect each other's differences,”
something like that would be very good. And then I would say, maybe after class or at a later date,
(11:17):
talk to that student one on one, and explain to them why what they said was a problem, because,
again, it's usually unintentional. They don't know that what they said is an issue. If it's
more of a small group discussion that you like overhear it happen, then I would say right there,
you can really sit down with them and have a conversation and let them know like what they said
was wrong and why, because it's not like you're calling them out in front of the whole class,
(11:41):
because that's really important, to not call someone out in front of a large group of people,
because they will get defensive, and it's not productive. And then the really important part is
after you want to check in with the target of the microaggression, so the student who experienced
it, or the student that it was aimed at, make sure that they're doing okay, and that they know that
(12:02):
you're there to support them, and that you will do your best to keep the classroom a safe space
for them, and then also ask them, like, is there anything that you can do better to stop that from
happening in the class? Because they probably know better than you will what needs to be changed.
You mentioned creating a safe space and reminding people that this is a safe space.
Is that something perhaps that all instructors should do at the start of classes to help set the
(12:26):
environment for good discussions and let people know that there may be issues coming up that you
might be offended by or you might be troubled by, and it's always important to voice that concern.
Would that be helpful to help set the stage and reminding them that any critiques should
be of what's said and not of the person per se.Yes, absolutely, so I would say in the syllabus or
(12:52):
in the day when you're going over the syllabus, to make it very clear to students that your classroom
is a safe space, that everyone is welcome and that it is not acceptable to be excluding anyone for
any reason, being upfront with that is really important, setting that tone. But I also think
it does depend on the class. So for example, if it's a gender and women's studies class,
(13:12):
that class is probably going to have a lot more of these difficult issues being brought up. So that
class may be diving deeper into it. These are the topics we're going to be discussing, it is
going to be hard conversations, things like that versus in more of a math class, not as applicable,
but still good to say. Like everyone's opinion is valid. Anyone can participate in this class.
(13:33):
You don't have to be good at math to participate in this class, things like that, so that everyone
knows that they're all safe in the classroom and setting that tone for other students like
you need to be respectful to your classmates.It strikes me, as you're talking that there's
often fear or an unwillingness to confront the person who might have committed a microaggression.
(13:55):
I wonder what the role of a bystander could be or should be, because they may also not
feel empowered to speak up. But what are some ways that a bystander might actually be able
to support folks in a situation like this.Yeah, so becoming an ally is really important.
When you witness a microaggression, when you see something like that happen, you want to be there
(14:18):
for the target. Maybe you're another professor, so you maybe don't have that power dynamic,
and you feel comfortable going to the person that committed it and saying something. Definitely do
that. But if you're another student and you don't feel safe addressing it with the professor, just
go to the target and talk to them about it, let them know like I saw what happened, if you want to
discuss it, I'm here like I understand that that may have been hurtful or upset you in any way.
(14:43):
If you need that support. I'm here for you, but it is really awesome if you feel safe doing it to say
something to the professor, because that really helps the target to feel safer, to feel included,
and it reverses the negative impacts from microaggressions. So instead of them walking
away feeling excluded in the classroom, they'll feel more included. It will prevent those negative
(15:07):
mental and physical health problems and probably improve their academic performance, because they
feel safe. So in any way that you can support someone who's struggling with microaggressions,
experiencing them a lot, it's really just be there for them, and that'll help them a lot.
So we've been mostly talking about things that are said in the classroom, but more and more
classes are being taken online in asynchronous modes. Might the same sort of things occur in
(15:33):
online discussion forums, for example? And if so, how should they be addressed then?
Yeah, they definitely can, especially in a class like a gender and women's studies class or I took
a management diversity class of some sort, that we did have a lot of those tough conversations.
We even talked about microaggressions in those classes, and there are students who
(15:54):
don't understand them and say things in the discussion posts that aren't very inclusive.
So as another student, what I sometimes will do is I will sometimes respond to those posts, and kind
of in a very polite and respectful way, explain to them that what they're saying is a problem, and in
a way that tries to not make them feel attacked, but more just an educational, but professors
(16:17):
definitely need to be monitoring those discussion posts, because things can happen, and then people
can say things that are microaggressions. It's very easy to do in words, because you're not
even looking at the person, so you don't feel as connected to them, and you don't necessarily think
about it as much as you might when you're face to face with someone. So if a professor sees it,
saying something to that student, may be taking that post down if they can, or even
(16:41):
just replying to the post and saying, “Hey, this isn't welcome in this space. This is a safe space,
and saying things like that are not okay.” If it's something really severe, if it's something
smaller, I think it's better to maybe shoot them an email and be like, hey, what you said was
wrong for this reason and moving forward, let's leave that out of the classroom environment.
How did you select this as a focus of study?.So I actually started in my junior year. Picked
(17:07):
my topic the end of sophomore year, and I came to this topic because in writing my honors thesis,
I knew I wanted it to be something relating to human resource management, because I wanted it
to be applicable to the field that I'm trying to go into and also something that interests me,
because I have to spend two years on this thesis, and you don't want to get bored. So I kind of went
(17:30):
over a lot of the topics that I've heard discussed in my classes. And Kristin Sotak taught one of the
HR classes. She's an amazing professor, and she touched on microaggressions, which was surprising,
because I didn't expect us to talk about it in that class, and it was kind of my first real
exposure to the topic. Even though I'd experienced them my whole life, I didn't really know that
(17:53):
there was a name for that. And so when she was explaining it, I got really interested in it.
And so it was one of the first things that popped into my head when I was thinking about a topic for
my honors thesis. So I did discuss that with her and my other thesis advisor, Dr. Friedman, and
we talked about doing that as my topic, because it was something that interests me, something
(18:14):
that's really important for the world that we live in. Because a lot of overt discrimination,
things like just choosing not to hire someone because of their race, things like that are
kind of fading out, but microaggressions are still very prominent and are still kind of perpetuating
that discrimination in a more subtle way and in a way that's a lot harder to fight. So I knew it
(18:34):
was something that was important. I knew it was something that interests me, and that's kind of
how I got into it. And then just the more research I did, the more I really enjoyed learning about it
and trying to figure out how to stop this problem. And originally my thesis was going to just be
a literature review of the current resources out there, but when I was talking to Kristin about it,
(18:58):
she kind of said, well, maybe you want to create a training program, something that will actually
have a real world impact. And I was like, “Yes, that sounds awesome.” And so I actually ended
up doing that. I didn't get to implement it as great as I wanted to. There weren't a lot
of people that I implemented it with, but it was really an amazing opportunity to really
dive into what microaggressions are and come up with a tangible solution for how to fight them,
(19:22):
mostly in the workplace, but also just in general. So that's kind of how I came to it, and then how
it became this whole thing where I do things like this, where I talk about microaggressions.
That’s great. We always wrap up by asking, what's next?
Yep. So it's really important to always be educating yourself. Do more research
(19:43):
on microaggressions, especially if it interests you, or if you realize, “Hey, I've been committing
those.” Look up more examples, so that you can be aware when you're going to commit them,
and just really commit to creating a safe space for students and for other faculty, and really for
anyone in this world, because everyone should feel included, and no matter where they are,
(20:03):
no matter what they're doing. So committing to that and always committing to growing as a person,
to being better. And when people come to you and say, “Hey, this is an area for
improvement,” accepting that openly, and then moving forward and being better.
And more specifically, what are you going to be doing now that you've graduated?
I currently don't know. I am moving to Grand Forks, North Dakota in August,
(20:27):
but I don't have a job lined up yet. I'm looking for something human resource management,
and hopefully can do more of this work. But it's all very unplanned right now.
Spoken like a true recent graduate. Well, thank you for joining us, and we
appreciate the workshops you've done, and good luck with your job search.
Thank you. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much.
(20:54):
If you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and leave a review on iTunes
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our Tea for Teaching Facebook page. You can find show notes, transcripts and
other materials on teaforteaching.com. Music by Michael Gary Brewer.
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