Dr. Sue’s article in Training Magazine!

Training Magazine has published Dr. Sue’s article, Disarming Workplace Microaggressions through Microinterventions. READ HERE.

In the article, Dr. Sue defines microaggressions as the everyday slights, put-downs, insults and indignities that marginalized group members experience in their day-to-day interactions with well-intentioned workers who are unaware of their offensive and demeaning actions.

The news is filled each day with accounts of microaggressions and other offensive comments and behaviors. Dr. Sue writes that studies indicate that everyday expressions of microaggressions create a hostile and threatening employment climate, lower work productivity, interfere with problem solving, and increase employee turnover.

And yet, in the face of a microaggression or offensive comment, most people remain silent. Why? Dr. Sue says, “Being motivated to help is not enough when well-intentioned individuals lack the necessary strategies and actions required for effective interventions.”

In the article, Dr. Sue lays out the anti-bias actions that fall under four strategic goals – microinterventions: Making the Invisible Visible, Disarming the Microaggression, Educating the Offender and Seeking External Reinforcement or Support. Microinterventions have major beneficial impacts to enhance the psychological well-being and provide targets, allies, and bystanders with a sense of control and self-efficacy. And, “they counteract, change, or stop microaggressions by subtly or overtly confronting and educating the perpetrator. Third, they have been found to create an inclusive and welcoming environment, discourage negative behavior, challenge false consensus, and reinforce norms that value respectful interactions.”

Our new e-Learning course, Disarming Microaggressions is the result of a wonderful collaboration with Dr. Derald Wing Sue. In this 30-minute, SCORM course, learners will not only learn about microaggressions and how to identify the hidden messages they carry, they will practice microinterventions through a series of exercises and activities.

Upon reviewing the course, Dr. Sue wrote, “Joel Lesko and SunShower Learning have produced the gold standard of anti-bias training that will have a lasting and beneficial impact in business, industry and education. It is filled with real-life examples of harmful microaggressions, along with tested intervention actions that can be taken to create norms that reinforce an inclusive, respectful, and welcoming environment.”

Test Drive the full e-Learning course by filling out the request HERE.