Racial Microaggressions In Human Service Organizations: A Qualitative Study

Background/Purpose: First described by Chester Pierce to capture the changing face of racism toward African Americans in the United States, racial microaggressions (RMAs) are a form of covert racial discrimination that remains insidious, highly impactful, and problematic despite its ‘micro’ prefix. Existing research shows that RMAs exist in the workplace, through power structures, organizational culture, and team dynamics. Underpinned by critical theories and (neo)institutional theory, this work explores the human service organizational (HSO) space where social workers are often employed. If RMAs permeate HSO environments, then they undoubtedly impact the clients that we serve.

This study explores the lived experiences of racialized social services professionals and to develop critical consciousness about how microaggressions are understood and enacted in HSOs. The purpose is to identify current and future strategies/solutions for racial microaggressions (RMAs) in HSOs, informing meaningful equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) practices.

Three research questions guided this inquiry: (1) How do racially inferiorized/racialized individuals working in Canadian HSOs experience RMAs? (2) What organizational characteristics contribute to increased experiences of RMAs? (3) What strategies can be utilized to prevent RMAs?

Methods: Guided by constructivist grounded theory, open-ended interviews were conducted virtually with 35 HSO personnel across Canada representing a range of HSO settings (e.g., settlement agencies, healthcare, post-secondary education, religious organizations, etc.), ethno-racial-religious cultural backgrounds (African; Caribbean; East, Southeast and South Asian; Jewish; Middle Eastern; and Mixed Race participants), and attention to other dimensions of social location (e.g., gender, sexuality, and ability) to assure theoretical saturation of study results. Interviews used a semi-structured format enabling a level of openness for participants to introduce new dimensions, and to elaborate on their stories—in-keeping with counter-storytelling, a form of critical race methodology. Data were analyzed inductively, using initial coding, focused coding, theoretical coding, and finally theme identification to generate new theory(ies) to explain the conditions increasing, maintaining and/or decreasing the incidences of RMAs in HSOs.

Results: Findings showed that RMAs occur/worsen through a combination of interpersonal, HR, and procedural issues such as social exclusion, team dynamics, the absence of reporting mechanisms, racial bias in hiring, tokenism, and superficial EDI work. RMAs are also improved through allyship, mentorship (especially from White colleagues), fair management practices, racially diverse management teams, equity committees empowered to create organizational changes, paid roles to support EDI work, peer-debriefing, and participants’ internal resources. Solutions include experiential education and training, development of direct mechanisms to report covert racial discrimination, ensuring that EDI committees have decision-making power, strengthening accountability and enforcement mechanisms, embedding anti-racist practices into organizational policies and everyday operations, and fostering organizational cultures that prioritize equity, transparency, and sustained commitment to change.

Conclusion: The findings have implications for social work research, practice, education, and policy development within HSOs. By documenting the lived experiences of racially inferiorized HSO personnel, this study addresses conceptual gaps existing in the literature of covert racial discrimination experienced by individuals of various ethno-racial-cultural identities working in Canadian HSOs, and lays a foundation to develop a model, policies, and practices for anti-racial micro-aggressive human service organizational practice.