Micro-Affirmations as Antidote to Workplace Inequities

In the 1970's Mary Rowe, defined micro-inequities as “apparently small events which are often ephemeral and hard-to-prove, events which are covert, often unintentional, frequently unrecognized by the perpetrator, which occur wherever people are perceived to be ‘different.’”

Rowe, the Ombuds at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says the remedy for micro-inequities is micro-affirmations, equally small and unconscious acts that occur wherever people wish to help others succeed. Robert Martínez, HR Diversity Manager at Princeton University, agrees and says that recognition of the psychological damage caused by micro-inequities is the first step toward reversing the effects. (Color Magazine.)

This is the kind of information that Ombuds may want to use for departmental training or even one-on-one coaching.

Related post: MoFo Partner Backs Ombuds as Remedy for Micro-Inequities.