Although there has been substantial research examining the effects of microaggressions in the public sphere, there has been little research that examines microaggressions in the workplace. This study explores the types of microaggressions that affect employees at universities. We coin the term "hierarchical microaggression" to represent the everyday slights found in higher education that communicate systemic valuing (or devaluing) of a person because of the institutional role held by that person in the institution. We explore hierarchical microaggressions through examining qualitative data from multiple cultural competence trainings devoted to learning about microaggressions on college campuses. Findings indicate 4 main types of hierarchical microaggressions: valuing/devaluing based on role/credential, changing accepted behavior based on role, actions (ignoring/excluding/surprise/interrupting) related to role, and terminology related to work position. The findings add a new dimension of interpretation to the current research on microaggressions, one that relates directly to hierarchical status of workplace identities. Hierarchical microaggressions exist in all workplaces, but are of a unique type in a university because of the rhetoric related to equality and upward mobility associated with college going. Our findings indicate that these forms of microaggressions are more than insensitive comments; they impact people because people take on an identity associated with their status at the university, an identity related to the amount of higher education they attain. This study adds to the literature on microaggressions and provides university stakeholders with the language and the tools to reduce microaggressions from their respective environments leading to the improvement of overall campus climate.

Higher education has struggled to include and support students, faculty, and staff from underrepresented and marginalized groups. In recent years, universities have decided to address these struggles explicitly, using a variety of different approaches to better support these groups from mandatory trainings to optional events, from external audits to internal campus climate surveys. One promising approach to providing support to marginalized groups has been to employ campus diversity officers and offices. These offices operate at the executive level and take on campus-wide leadership responsibilities, incorporating inclusive excellence and an equity perspective throughout campus policies, functions and culture. In this article, programmatic and policy efforts at two public universities are detailed, spotlighting systemicproactive and individual-reactive policies and programs needed to advance access, diversity, equity, and inclusion across institutions of higher education. Although the approaches each university takes are site and context specific, they use the role of chief diversity officer both to marshal policy and programmatic change to improve the educational experiences for all who work at and learn at these institutions.

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Pressurized Water Reactor Power Plants have at times required that large components be replaced (steam generators weighing 750,000 lbs) which have necessitated performing first time modifications to the plant that were unintended during the original design. The steam generator replacement project at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA’s) Sequoyah Nuclear Power Station necessitated (1) two large temporary openings (21’×45’) in the plant’s Shield Building roof (2’ thick concrete) by hydro-blasting to allow the removal of the old generators and installation of the new, (2) removal and repair of the concrete steam generator enclosure roofs (20’ diameter, 3’ thick) which were removed by wire saw cutting and (3) the seismic qualification of; the design and construction of an extensive ring foundation for; the use of one of the world largest cranes to remove these components through the roof. This removal and replacement process had to be performed in an expeditious manner to minimize the amount of time the plant is shutdown so the plant could return to providing power to the grid. This paper will address some of the many technical and construction considerations required to perform this demolition and repair work safely, efficiently and in a short as possible duration.

This article uses methods from narrative analysis to consider how the macro-level experiences of racism and sexism appear in micro-level small stories about hierarchical microaggressive intersectionalities (HMI) in higher education. Small stories shared by university faculty and administrators reveal that microaggressions were simultaneously experienced along the lines of race, gender and role in the institution. Themes emerge that link deprofessionalization, invisibility, and fatigue to these small stories. On a nuanced level, the narratives in this paper demonstrate how broader societal notions of women’s and women of color’s roles in institutions translate into a negative campus climate for those who experience HMI.