Thinking through microaggressions within diversity management: the relevance and the necessity explained

Abstract

In current diversity management practices, the focus often lies on (in)formal mentoring, single category networks, and employee training programmes. In this thesis it is argued that adopting the microaggressions framework into diversity management practices is a necessary and beneficial addition to the field. This is argued to be the case because this microaggression framework is non-essentialist in its approach to identity of employees in that it leaves room for an intersectional conceptualization of identity, not reducing employees to one particular aspect of their social identity. Furthermore, introducing and working with the microaggression framework in the workplace would be beneficial for the diversity climate in organizations, working to diversify the conceptualization of the “normal” worker. In understanding discourse as shaping reality as much as vice versa, following Fairclough (1992) , the necessity for eliminating microaggressive instances becomes clear. This theoretical argument will be supported with quotes from interviews with seven team-managers at a Dutch energy network company, in which the need for guidance and intervention from the diversity management department was indicated. In these interviews the respondents reported their own difficulties in navigating (semi-) discriminatory remarks, made either intentionally or non-intentionally. Furthermore, the respondents indicated feeling and/or seeing some feelings of resentment towards diversity management policies with a target group-approach, such as the women’s network at the Dutch energy network company, since they felt these groups were of a discriminatory nature. This further supports my argument that introducing microaggression theory into diversity management practices would be beneficial, since this approach would not in- or exclude any group in particular, since any person might commit microaggressions or experience microaggressions. Instead, the focus would be more on self-reflection of each employee personally. The interviews also led me to conclude that any approach to the incorporation of microaggression theory into diversity management would need to focus on lower level management rather than on higher management, since the facilities of the lower layers of management have so far been underutilized, at least at the company in which the interviews took place, reducing the reach of current diversity management practices.