Microaggressions are common forms of discrimination felt by newcomers across different age groups, ethnicities, genders – especially biases towards accents. Nada Aoudeh, Public School Administrator and Educator, and Michael Kaneva, Director of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity at OPTrust discuss the different types of microaggressions, and how they impact organizations and immigrant professionals in the Canadian workplace. They also discuss how these biases can be tackled, at an organizational and individual level.

This episode is Chapter One of the Voices for Change project. Through data, stories, a series of podcasts and other activities, Voices for Change will kickstart a conversation about some of the more challenging issues that hinder immigrant professionals from finding skills-commensurate employment, advancing in their careers and having a sense of belonging in the workplace.