Building capacity: Navigating organizational opportunities as if they were a subway system

8th Annual NW Diversity Learning Series (2006)

Session Three Summary:
Anticipating the loss of power: Transforming micro-inequities that impede access to opportunities and inhibit relationships

By Monica Ercolano

How do you recognize and address micro-inequities and micro-aggressions - both interpersonal and organizational - that impede access to organizational opportunities and career development? Anyone who has taken a subway knows about the importance of power. When you suddenly lose it, the lights go out and you are stuck, going nowhere.

The goals of this session were to gain knowledge and skills to recognize, anticipate and effectively respond micro-inequities and micro-aggressions, especially in regards to women.

For this session, we decided to focus on micro-inequities experienced by women in the workplace. (At last year's session, we focused on racial micro-inequities). The session began by reviewing women's history at work as a means to understand micro-aggressions and micro-inequities that occur today.

Dr. Wesley Profit introduced us referred to four types of micro-inequities known as STEM Abuse: space, time, energy and mobility abuse. Our approach then focused on gaining and practicing intervention strategies, especially as they pertain to the bystander role.

Micro-aggressions or micro-inequities:

Dr. Wesley Profit explained micro-inequities or micro-aggressions as:

• Manifestations of subtle discrimination
• Woven into all the threads of our work life and of U.S. education
• Destructive but not legally actionable
• Characteristics of an environment experienced by a person not indigenous to that environment
• Unjust when treatment occurs only because of a general characteristic, unrelated to creativity and performance
• Negatively impact the individual and the organization on four levels: Space, Time, Energy, Mobility

These subtle discriminatory actions manifest themselves at two levels: the interpersonal level - through individuals' discriminatory behaviors, and the organizational level - through organizational practices that exclude and devalue people.

At the interpersonal level, micro-aggressions specifically affect the individual by:

• Dissipating energy
• Draining resources
• Lowering morale
• Impeding performance

At the organizational level, deeply embedded in the culture, micro-aggressions specifically affect the organization by:

• Harming the growth and development of the organization
• Restraining competition
• Misusing resources
• Creating unnecessary vulnerabilities
• Producing inefficiencies

In other words, the effect of micro-inequities produces what Dr. Profit referred to as "unnecessary stops" on our subway ride- both for the individual and the organization - that impede the organization from achieving competitive advantage.

To better understand how micro-inequities play out at both the interpersonal and organizational level, and to identify and practice interventions strategies to counteract them, Dr. Profit assigned participants three scenarios. As part of the analysis of the scenarios, participants were asked to identify the types of micro-inequities referred in the STEM Abuse model.

(You can read the three scenarios and their related intervention strategies by following the link above.)

The Bystander's role in counteracting discriminatory behaviors and practices:

By analyzing the scenarios and also by examining examples of micro-inequities from our own experiences, we came to understand that when micro-inequities happen, there are different roles involved; there is the "offender" (the one who carries out the offense), the "recipient," or the victim, and the "bystander," a person, or those persons, who happen to be on the scene when the micro-inequity occurs.

The bystander's role represents one of the most important roles in fighting against subtle discrimination. In fact, bystanders, when witnessing an inappropriate behavior, can take ownership of the situation and intervene by:

• Asking a question or showing an interest about what was said or done so to provide a chance for clarification
• Interrupting and simply call for a break
• Responding graciously and not directly (you don't have to be mean)

Conclusions:

Subtle discriminatory behaviors and practices against women, what many refer to as sexism, have been around for a long time and are deeply embedded in our cultures in ways that may be difficult to recognize and to address. Still, they negatively impact individuals and organizations stymie growth and development. By becoming skilled in counteracting micro-inequities - both at the interpersonal and organizational level, we can all contribute to shaping more inclusive cultures, and ultimately helping our organizations in achieving competitive advantage.

The 2006 NW Diversity Learning Series (now in its 9th year) focused on the theme, Building Capacity: Navigating organizational opportunities as if they were a subway system.

Using the metaphor of a subway system, each of the six-bi-monthly morning seminars explored some of the ways that access to organizational opportunities and career development are hidden and therefore more difficult for women and people of color, as well as people who speak English as a second language, to utilize. The purpose of this Series was for everyone to become more aware of organizational culture and how it impacts building people's capacity, and for everyone, managers and employees, to become better at navigating these cultural obstacles along career paths.

For more information about the NW Diversity Learning Series, please visit the Series section of our website.

2006 Series Sponsors:

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