Academy · DEI · MICROAGGRESSIONS

Microaggressions - because their cumulative effect is anything but small.

Microaggressions are subtle, everyday and often unintentional. But research consistently shows that their effect on belonging, wellbeing and performance is significant. This programme builds the awareness, vocabulary and intervention skills to recognise and address them.

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WHAT YOU GAIN

Participants recognise microaggressions — as recipient, bystander and unintentional perpetrator

Teams have a shared language and concrete protocols for making microaggressions discussable

Leaders act as active architects of a culture of belonging

THE CORE PROBLEM

The intention was good. The impact was not.

Microaggressions are subtle remarks, behaviours or contexts that make people feel they do not quite belong. They are rarely intended as exclusion — but are experienced as such. And that is precisely what makes them so difficult: the perpetrator does not see the problem, the recipient questions whether they are overreacting, and bystanders do not know how to respond.

The cumulative impact is well-documented: higher stress, lower engagement, reduced psychological safety and structurally higher turnover among employees from underrepresented groups — Derald Wing Sue describes it as 'death by a thousand cuts'.

Invisibility — microaggressions are hard to name because they are small — but that does not make them harmless
Gaslighting dynamic — when the recipient names them, they are often told not to overreact
Bystander paradox — people want to intervene but do not know how — and so stay silent
Leadership as norm — how a leader responds to microaggressions sets the cultural standard for the whole team

Three roles, three levels of intervention

01 - Recognise

Seeing microaggressions for what they are

Participants learn to recognise the most common forms of microaggressions in professional contexts — in language, behaviour and structure — from all three perspectives: recipient, perpetrator and bystander.

02 — Respond

Intervening effectively and constructively

We practise concrete intervention techniques for each perspective: how the recipient names their experience, how the bystander intervenes without escalating, how the perpetrator takes responsibility.

03 — Prevent

Building a culture that structurally reduces microaggressions

Participants design team agreements, leadership behaviours and feedback mechanisms that reduce microaggressions — not through rules, but through shared norms and psychological safety.

"Microaggressions: death by a thousand cuts. Each cut alone seems minor. Together, they are lethal to belonging."

- Derald Wing Sue — Columbia University

Format

⏱ 1 day or modular (workshop: 3 hours) I 👥 Leaders · HR · Change agents · All employees I 🏢 In-company or virtual I 📐 Tailored to your context I 🌐 NL, EN & FR

ACADEMY · DEI

Breaking bias

Microaggressions are bias in action - Breaking Bias lays the cognitive foundation for understanding their origina.

ACADEMY - TALENT

Psychological safety

The culture of belonging that structurally reduces microaggressions is the same one that builds psychological safety.

Want to explore whether this programme fits your context?

A short exploratory conversation is usually the best starting point.

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Reviews

“Une formation superbe. Tout était bien préparé. Bons outils pédagogiques, maitrisé par la formatrice, Emilie."

Anonyme, Actiris