Women are twice as likely to be interrupted while speaking compared to men. Such a disconnect can be attributed to the phenomenon of “mansplaining” and the assumption that a woman is unfamiliar with the subject is associated with unconscious prejudice and sexism.
Women were also twice as likely to receive comments about their emotional state, and 1.5 times more likely to have a female colleague present their idea as their own. Normalizing sexist behavior leads to a decrease in employee performance, sense of belonging, mental health and job satisfaction.
Target of microagressions
Women are more often than men the target of microaggressions. Of participants in a study done in the USA, 78% of women indicated that they had become the object of microaggression in their workplace. The same study found that women of African or Asian descent were seven times more likely to be mistaken for colleagues of the same gender and race.
Microaggressions are everyday verbal or behavioral insults, whether intentional or unintentional, that create the perception of hostility, disdain, or negativity toward stigmatized or culturally marginalized groups. Microaggressions have been proven to cause not only psychological trauma, but also lead to serious long-term medical problems, such as depression or high blood pressure.
Concealing one’s authentic self
Microaggressions cause people to hold back from offering new ideas or sharing concerns. Then the phenomenon of “concealing one’s authentic self” is observed.
The study cited above shows that women who conceal part of their identity are three times more likely to experience burnout and are more likely to consider leaving the company. The results show that a third of LGBTQ+ women and half of women with disabilities prefer not to share their opinions freely out of concern that they might be perceived as difficult to work with. A third of women of African descent change the way they look and speak to be similar to their peers.
The “micro” part of microaggression does not mean that these actions cannot have large impacts. They have a long-lasting effect, especially in women.
