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By Ma Kyung-hee
Microaggressions have emerged as a core category of recent research on international students' cross-cultural experiences. The term "microaggressions" was originally coined in the 1970s to describe subtle racial put-downs that black people experienced in daily life. The term has since expanded to include intentional or unintentional insults, slights, and demeaning actions or language directed toward any culturally marginalized group. Microaggressions are composed of three subtypes ― microassaults, microinsults, and microinvalidations ― each found to have negative mental health consequences, such as low self-esteem, trauma reaction and depression.
Microaggressions are subtle, pervasive, and cumulative by nature and are particularly damaging for those on the receiving end because micro-offenses often operate outside the level of consciousness of perpetrators. This tendency makes it difficult for targeted individuals to confront the source "in the moment." Furthermore, due to their nebulousness, microaggressions can make targeted individuals doubt the legitimacy of their feelings and reactions, often leading them to dismiss offenses as a simple mistake or misunderstanding without trying to address them properly. A slow accumulation of these microaggressions that negate the experiential reality of target individuals builds up until they feel as if they are (perpetual) outsiders, with diminished self-worth and self-respect.
As a minority group on campus, international students in Korea also experience day-to-day microaggressions in classrooms and student commons, as well as during group work, verbal encounters with peers, and meetings with professors or academic advisors. The verbal and nonverbal offenses delivered by their peers may include jokes about the students' cultural heritage and their people, complaints about having international persons on the team while mistaking their linguistic proficiency for intellectual capability, and encouraging the students to take new names for easy pronunciation.
Professors/academic advisors can also easily commit microaggressions by mistaking two international students from the same country as being identical, refusing to pronounce international students' names after a failed first attempt, and prompting students to assimilate into the mainstream Korean culture to succeed while placing little to no importance on maintaining their original culture. Not only can these forms of microaggressions hinder international students from reaching their potential but also inhibit them from functioning as contributing members of their learning community.
As mentioned above, responding to microaggressions is a difficult task, more so for international students who may not yet possess a clear understanding of what microaggressions are and how they play out in the new cultural milieu. One solution might be to find allies and supporters of inclusive campuses. Working with them will enable international students to build strategies needed to stand up against microaggressions.
While individual work is undoubtedly important to develop the ability to discern and respond to microaggressions, institution-level training would also help create a microaggression resistance culture. Here, the foci of the training must go beyond recognizing how targeted individuals are offended, to raising awareness through activities allowing all participants to examine implicit biases in their belief systems, looking into how their biases are intentionally or unintentionally delivered through words and deeds, and understanding potential mental health concerns for targeted individuals. Committing to such training will enable campus communities to make greater strides toward reducing microaggressions while improving overall health and well-being.
A school is a microcosm of society where stereotyping, stigmatization, and discrimination are reproduced and reenacted in a gratuitous manner targeting students of different cultural backgrounds. This pattern, however, can be disrupted through quality education/training, strategic dialogue, social connection, and policy change. Now is the time to take action to affect much-needed change. Although there are many challenges, strong commitments to change will enable campus communities in Korea to successfully create and sustain a climate where compassion, respect, and accountability are given to all members.
Ma Kyung-hee (kyungheem@daum.net) is an editor and researcher specializing in mental health.
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