In our society, and in higher education (HE) institutions, forms of overt racism and explicit discrimination are less common, as recent research has shown (Vives, 2021). Nevertheless, students report regularly encountering implicit forms of racism, discrimination and exclusion (Colak et al., 2020). These implicit, more subtle forms of racism and discrimination, which weigh heavily on the students involved and cause mental and psychological injuries (Charkaoui, 2019; Samira et al., 2021), are called micro-aggressions. Micro-aggression is a term used for everyday verbal, behavioural or environmental inequalities, intended or unintended, that convey hostile, derogatory or negative attitudes towards stigmatised or culturally marginalised groups (Pierce, 1970). 

This term, coined by a Chester M. Pierce in 1970, initially referred to insults and discrimination expressed by non-black Americans towards Americans of African background. Later, the use of the term expanded to everyday comments, questions and actions directed at marginalised groups, including a person's social background, linguistic background, assumptions about people with disabilities or references to a person's gender identity or sexual orientation, which perpetuate negative stereotypes and prejudices and are thus harmful. Here, it is important to underline that these ‘micro-aggressions send hurtful messages to individuals because of their group membership, because of their belonging to a particular - often marginalised - social group’ (Sue, 2010). Micro-aggression is thus strongly linked to the power relations present in society.

Research has shown that micro-aggressions make pupils and students feel a reduced sense of belonging, pupils and students lose confidence in their own competences and experience reduced commitment to their own learning; class dynamics are also negatively affected by micro-aggressions (Nadal et al., 2012 & 2014; Sue, 2010; Sue et al., 2019). We know from the literature that these elements - feelings of not belonging, reduced academic self-confidence and reduced engagement in one's own learning - have a negative impact on study success. 

Given this impact of micro-aggressions on school careers of often marginalized students, it is important to establish the occurrence and impact of these subtle, everyday forms of racism and discrimination and to develop strategies to cope with expressions of micro-aggression and prevent them as much as possible. Starting from microaggression theory (Torino et al., 2018), this research contributes to this.

So far, research on micro-aggression has been conducted mainly in the North American context and this in relation to ethnic and religious minorities. This study is situated in the Flemish context, more exactly Flemish HE, and uses a broader understanding of micro-aggression. We conduct this research in three university colleges geographically distributed across Flanders. The conducted study is not a comparative study across the institutions involved but is aimed at gaining deeper insight into the forms of expression, dynamics and impact of micro-aggressions in higher education in Flanders. However, throughout the study, we do pay attention to similarities across contexts and possible patterns that emerge within the three institutions studied.

 We formulated three research questions for this study, specifically:

1. Clarifying the concept and gaining insight into the processes and dynamics of micro-aggression.  What is micro-aggression, specifically within the context HE in Flanders?
2. Mapping the manifestations, dynamics and impact of micro-aggression among students and HE professionals in the context of Flanders. In what way does micro-aggression manifest itself among students and professionals in higher education in Flanders and what impact does micro-aggression have?
3. Contribute to evidence-informed policies in coping with racism and discrimination in the form of micro-aggression, by identifying needs at different levels in HE. What strategies can we develop to raise awareness about, prevent and reduce the impact of micro-aggression on the learning careers of students in Flanders?

We make the explicit choice of a qualitative research design in this study, considering the importance of an experiential approach to this complex and sensitive topic (Creswell & Guetterman, 2021). The research was carried out in three university colleges in Flanders during the academic years 2023-2024 and 2024-2025. In a first phase, we conducted a literature review on concept clarification and gaining insight into the processes and dynamics of micro-aggression in general and in higher education in particular. Qualitative data collection took place in several successive steps. First, we collected incidents of micro-aggression from students in the three university colleges involved and did so through a short digital questionnaire administered during teaching activities in these institutions. Confidentiality and anonymity were hereby guaranteed and the GDPR policy of their own institution respected. Based on insights gained from the literature review and the digital reporting of incidents of micro-aggression, a number of cases or scenarios were developed. Here, we used the vignette or ‘real life scenario’ technique (Hazel, 1995, Hill e.a., 1997), in which hypothetical but realistic scenarios are presented to respondents as a starting point for the group discussions to be conducted. In a final step of data collection, we organised focus groups with, on the one hand, students and, otherwise, teachers in the institutions HE involved. We organised 7 focus groups and interviews with students, with a total of 17 respondents. And we organised 8 focus groups with teachers, with a total of 30 respondents. During these focus groups, the vignettes are presented and discussed. We chose the methodology of focus groups to let the respondents also interact with each other about their experiences of micro-aggression and bring out different opinions through group dynamics. Audio recordings were made of the focus groups (after informed consent from the respondents), and the conversations were transcribed and processed via NVIVO. The written reports of the critical incidents are also added to this qualitative data file. A code tree was developed for analysis, starting from the insights gained from the literature study on the one hand and the focus group discussion guides on the other.

This research actively contributes to an inclusive higher education, which is high on the (inter)national policy agenda, by countering racism and discrimination in education in an evidence-informed way. Thus, this project creates direct impact for students and professionals from diverse backgrounds in higher education. In addition, the impact of this research is broader than the context of Flemish higher education. Research into the dynamics and impact of micro-aggression is also relevant to other (international) contexts in which people from diverse backgrounds interact and build social relationships. The data collection of this study will end in spring 2025. The presentation at the ECER conference will highlight the findings of the study in response to the three research questions posed. We can already indicate, as a preliminary finding, that discussing this topic leads to greater awareness among people who have themselves been victims of micro-aggression and people who have witnessed micro-aggression. Teachers indicate that they are approachable about this, willing to discuss these topics with students, but for students, the power relationship teacher-student often remains too high a threshold. Based on the findings from the study, we formulate recommendations at different levels in HE: at the level of the individual professional (teacher, supervisor, student counsellor, etc.), at the education or program level, at the institution level, at the level of student participation and at the level of infrastructure and facilities.

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