Unveiling Gender Microaggressions in Schools: Developing and Validating a Scale for Teachers’ Perceptions

Year 2025, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 16 - 34

Yasemin Ateşoğlu , Nihan Demirkasımoğlu

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15074497

Abstract

This study sought to develop a robust and valid scale to unveil instances of gender microaggressions experienced by women teachers in school environments. Collecting data from 440 women teachers employed in Turkish schools, the "Teachers’ Perceptions of Gender Microaggressions Scale" comprising 25 items distributed across five sub-dimensions. Upon exploratory factor analysis, the scale explained 50.14% of the total variance across its five factors. The identified subscales include "Weakness of Professional Authority," "Exposure to Abuse of Power," "Assumptions of Traditional Gender Roles," "Second-Class Citizen," and "Tendency to Masculine Behavior." The five-factor structure of the scale was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis and the participants' experiences were evaluated between "never" and "always". The fit index values (RMSEA, NFI, CFI, GFI, and AGFI) indicated that the model reached acceptable levels of fit. In conclusion, the "Teachers’ Perceptions of Gender Microaggressions Scale" is a validated instrument for assessing and quantifying the experiences of women teachers with gender microaggressions in the school context.

Keywords

Gender microaggressions, gender, sexism, microagression, women, teacher, scale development

Ethical Statement

All ethical rules were followed during the collection and analysis of the research data. The ethics application for the study was made on 21.12.2022 and the research was carried out with the approval of Hacettepe University Educational Sciences Ethics Committee dated 13.12.2022 and numbered 2534752. It was stated that the data obtained from the research will be used only for scientific purposes and will not be shared with third parties.

References

• Anderson, C.A., Berkowitz, L., Donnerstein, E., Huesmann, L., Johnson, J., Linz, D., Wartella, R. (2003). The influence of media violence on youth. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 4(3), 81-110.
• Barreto, M. A., & Pedraza, F. I. (2009). The renewal and persistence of group identification in American politics. Electoral Studies, 28(4), 595-605.
• Barthelemy, R.S., McCormick, M., & Henderson, C. (2016). Gender discrimination in physics and astronomy: Graduate student experiences of sexism and gender microaggressions. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 12(2).
• Basford, T.E., Offermann, L. R., & Behrend, T.S. (2014). “Do you see what I see? Perceptions of gender microaggressions in the workplace.” Psychology of Women Quarterly, 38(3), 340-349.
• Beaulieu, R. (2016). A critical discourse analysis of teacher-student relationships in a third-grade literacy lesson: Dynamics of microaggression. Cogent Education, 3(1), 1244028.
• Bird, C. (1968). On being born female. Vital Speeches of the Day, 35, s. 88–91.
• Bolte , E. (2015). Investigating the Moderating Role of Gender Collective Self Esteem on the Relationship Between the Experience of Gender Microaggressions and Psychological Distress in Women. Southern Illinois University.
• Boysen, G.A. (2012). Teacher and student perceptions of microaggressions in college classrooms. College Teaching, 60(3), 122-129.
• Capodilupo, C.M., Nadal, K.L., Corman, L., Hamit, S., Lyons, O.B., & Weinberg, A. (2010). The manifestation of gender microaggressions. In D. W. Sue (Ed.), Microaggressions and marginality: Manifestation, dynamics, and impact (pp. 193–216).
• Cross, E.J., Overall, N.C., Hammond, M.D. & Fletcher, G.J.O. (2017). When does men’s hostile sexism predict relationship aggression? The moderating role of partner commitment. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8(3), 331-340.
• Eagly, A., & Mladinic, A. (1989). Gender stereotypes and attitudes toward women and men. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 543-558.
• Fitzgerald, L., Swan, S., & Fischer, K. (1995). Why didn't she just report him? The psychological and legal implications of women's responses to sexual harassment. Journal of Social Issues, 51(1), s. 117-138.
• Fornell, C., & Larcker, D.F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50.
• Franklin, A., & Boyd-Franklin, N. (2000). Invisibility syndrome: A clinical model of the effect of racism on African-American males. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 33– 41.
• Fredrickson, B., & Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women's lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21(2), 173-206.
• Gartner, R. (2019). From gender microaggressions to sexual assault: Measure development and preliminary trends among undergraduate women. Berkeley: University of California.
• Gartner, R. E., Sterzing, P.R., Fisher, C.M., Woodford, M.R., Kinney, M.K., & Victor, B.G. (2020). A scoping review of measures assessing gender microaggressions against women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 44(3), 283-306.
• Gerring, J. (2017). Qualitative methods. Annual Review of Political Science, 20(1), 15-36.
• Glick, P., & Fiske, S. (1996). The ambivalent sexism inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(3), 491–512.
• Gonzales, L., Davidoff, K.C., DeLuca, J.S., & Yanos, P.T. (2015). The mental illness microaggressions scale-perpetrator version (MIMS-P): Reliability and validity. Psychiatry Research, 229(1-2), 120-125.
• Gutiérrez, L. M., Rodríguez-Newhall, A., Mora, A., Areguin, M. A., & Salazar, M. (2019). 'Too Many to Count': Experiences of Microaggressions for Latinx Students at a Predominantly White Institution in the Age of Trump. NCID Currents, 1(1).
• Hair J, Black W.C, Babin B.J, Anderson R.E. (2014). Multivariate Data Analysis. 7th edition. Pearson England: Education Limited.
• Hair Jr, J.F., Hult, G.T.M., Ringle, C. M., Sarstedt, M., Danks, N.P., Ray, S. (2021). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage publications.
• Henden, E., & Gümüşeli, A.İ. (2023). School principals and microaggression: what do they think? How do they do it? How do they react to it?. European Journal of Education Studies, 10(8).
• Hunter, K., Maxwell, E., & Brunger, F. (2015). Misogyny in Health Professions? An Analysis of The Dalhousie Dentistry Scandal. Commentary, Bioéthique Online, 4.
• Judson, S. S. (2014). Sexist discrimination and gender microaggressions: An exploration of current conceptualizations of women's experiences of sexism. The University of Akron.
• Kandiyoti, D. (2007). The politics of gender and the Soviet paradox: neither colonized, nor modern?. Central Asian Survey, 26(4), 601-623.
• Kaskan, E.R., & Ho, I.K. (2016). Microaggressions and women athletes. Sex Roles, 74, 275-287.
• Kawai, Y. (2005). Stereotyping Asian-Americans: The dialectic of the model minority and the yellow peril. The Howard Journal of Communications, 16(2), 109–130.
• Keum, B.T., Brady, J.L., Sharma, R., Lu, Y., Kim, Y.H., & Thai, C.J. (2018). Gendered racial microaggressions scale for asian american women: development and initial validation. Journal of Counseling Psychology. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cou0000305
• Kline, R.B. (2023). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford Publications.
• Lawson, B.E. (1992). Moral discourse and slavery. H. McGary, & B. Lawson in, Between slavery and freedom: Philosophy and American Slavery (s. 76-77). Bloomington: Indiana University.
• Lehrer, A. (1974). Semantic fields and lexical structure. London: North‐Holland.
• Lewis, J.A. (2016). Gendered Racial Microaggressions and the Impact on Mental Health Among Black Women. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 44(1), 22-36.
• Lewis, J.A. (2018). From modern sexism to gender microaggressions: Understanding contemporary forms of sexism and their influence on diverse women. In C. B. Travis, J. W. White, A. Rutherford, W.S. Williams,
• S.L. Cook, & K.F. Wyche (Eds.), APA handbook of the psychology of women: History, theory, and battlegrounds (pp. 381–397). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000059-019
• Lewis, J.A., & Neville, H.A. (2015). Construction and initial validation of the Gendered Racial Microaggressions Scale for Black women. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 62(2), 289.
• Lewis, J.A., Mendenhall, R., Harwood, S.A., & Browne Huntt, M. (2013). Coping with Gendered Racial Microaggressions among Black Women College Students. Journal of African American Studies, 17, 51-73
• Lindeman, R.H., Merenda, P.F., & Gold, R.Z. (1980). Introduction to bivariate and multivariate analysis (Vol. 4). Glenview, IL: S. Foresman.
• Lobban, R., Luyt, R., & McDermott, D. (2022). (Hetero) sexist microaggressions in practice. Gender and Language, 16(2), 125-148.
• McTernan, E. (2018). Microaggressions, equality, and social practices. Journal of Political Philosophy, 26(3), 261-281.
• Menegatti, M., & Rubini, M. (2017). Gender Bias and Sexism in Language. Communication. Oxford Research, Encyclopedia of Communication.
• Miyake, E. (2018). Female Microaggressions Scale (FEMS): A comprehensive sexism scale. Doctoral Dissertation, Arizona State University.
• Nadal, K., & Haynes, K. (2012). The effects of sexism, gender microaggressions, and other forms of discrimination on women’s mental health and development. K. Lundberg Love, K. Nadal, & M. Paludi in, Women and Mental Disorders (Vols 1-4) (s. 87-101). CA US: Praeger/ABC-CLIO.
• Nadal, K.L. (2011). The Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale (REMS): Construction, reliability, and validity. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58(4), 470-480. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025193
• Nadal, K.L., Issa, M.A., Leon, J., Meterko, V., Wideman, M., & Wong, Y. (2011). Sexual orientation microaggressions:“Death by a thousand cuts” for lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth. Journal of LGBT Youth, 8(3), 234-259.
• Nadal, K.L., Whitman, C.N., Davis, L.S., Erazo, T., & Davidoff, K.C. (2016). Microaggressions toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and genderqueer people: A review of the literature. The Journal of Sex Research, 53(4-5), 488-508.
• Nunnally, J.C. (1978). Psychometric Theory, 2nd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Özmen, M., Yıldırım, O., & Türk, N. (2022). Adaptation of the Racial Microaggression Scale to Turkish Culture: Validity and Reliability Study. İçtimaiyat, 6(2), 717-729.
• Periyakoil, V.S., Chaudron, L., Hill, E.V., Pellegrini, V., Neri, E., & Kraemer, H.C. (2020). Common types of gender-based microaggressions in medicine. Academic Medicine, 95(3), 450-457.
• Platt, L.F., & Lenzen, A.L. (2013). Sexual orientation microaggressions and the experience of sexual minorities. Journal of Homosexuality, 60(7), 1011-1034.
• Resnick, C.A., & Galupo, M.P. (2019). Assessing experiences with LGBT microaggressions in the workplace: Development and validation of the microaggression experiences at work scale. Journal of Homosexuality, 66(10), 1380-1403.
• Sakallı Uğurlu, N. (2002). Çelişik duygulu cinsiyetçilik ölçeği: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 17(49), 47-58.
• Schermelleh-Engel, K., Moosbrugger, H. & Müller, H. (2003). Evaluating the fit of structural equation models: Tests of significance and descriptive goodness-of fit measures. Methods of Psychological Research Online, 8(2), 23-74.
• Schmitt, N. (1996). Uses and abuses of coefficient alpha. Psychological Assessment, 8(4), 350.
• Şencan, H. (2005). Sosyal ve davranışsal ölçümlerde geçerlilik ve güvenirlik. Ankara: Seçkin Matbaası.
• Shore, L.M., Cleveland, J.N., Sanchez, D. (2018). Inclusive workplaces: A review and model. Human Resource Management Review, 28(2), 176–189.
• Shrestha, N. (2021). Factor analysis as a tool for survey analysis. American Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, 9(1), 4-11.
• Smith, I.A., & Griffiths, A. (2022). Microaggressions, everyday discrimination, workplace incivilities, and other subtle slights at work: A meta-synthesis. Human Resource Development Review, 21(3), 275-299.
• Solorzano, D., Ceja, M., & Yosso, T. (2000). Critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate: The experiences of African American college students. Journal of Negro Education, 60-73.
• Sprow, H.N., Hansen, N. F., Loeb, H.E., Wight, C. L., Patterson, R.H., Vervoort, D., & Chu, K. (2021). Gender-based microaggressions in surgery: a scoping review of the global literature. World Journal of Surgery, 45(5), 1409-1422.
• Steketee, A., Williams, M.T., Valencia, B.T., Printz, D., & Hooper, L.M. (2021). Racial and languae microaggressions in the school ecology. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(5), 1075-1098.
• Sue, D.W. (2010). Microaggressions in everyday life: Race, gender, and sexual orientation. John Wiley & Sons.
• Sue, D.W., Bucceri, J., Lin, A., Nadal, K.L., & Torino, G.C. (2009). Racial microaggressions and the Asian American experience. Asian American Journal of Psychology, S(1), 88–101. https://doi.org/10.1037/1948-1985.S.1.88
• Sue, D.W., Capodilupo, C.M., Torino, G.C., Bucceri, J.M., Holder, A., Nadal, K.L., & Esquilin, M. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: implications for clinical practice. American Psychologist, 62(4), 271.
• Sümer, N. (2000). Yapısal eşitlik modelleri: Temel kavramlar ve örnek uygulamalar. Türk Psikoloji Yazıları, 3(6), 49-74.
• Suveren, Y. (2022). Günümüz Dünyasında Kadın Düşmanlığı (Mizojini) ve Görünümleri. Sakarya Üniversitesi Kadın Araştırmaları Dergisi, 1(1), 19-36.
• Swim, J., & Campbell, B. (2003). Sexism: Attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. R. Brown, & S. Gaertner içinde, Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology: Intergroup Processes (s. 218-237). Blackwell.
• Tayınmak, İ. (2020). Önyargılı tutumlar ve saldırganlık. Uluslararası Sosyal Bilimler Akademik Araştırmalar Dergisi, 4(1), 71-87.
• Torres-Harding, S.R., Andrade Jr, A.L., & Romero Diaz, C.E. (2012). The Racial Microaggressions Scale (RMAS): A new scale to measure experiences of racial microaggressions in people of color. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 18(2), 153.
• Uzun, M., Gümüşçağlayan, G., & Kağnıcı, D.Y. (2021). Examining Microagression Experiences of Women: The Case of İzmir. Kadin/Woman 2000, Journal for Women’s Studies, 22(2), 1-18.
• Vyjayanthi, N. V., Banerjee, D., & Rao, T. S. (2020). The Silent victims of the Pandemic: Children and adolescents during the COVID-19. Journal of Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 16(3), 17-31.
• Watson, L.B., & Henderson, J. (2023). The relation between gendered racial microaggressions and traumatic stress among highly educated Black women. The Counseling Psychologist, 51(2), 210-241.
• Wong, Y.J., Owen, J., Tran, K.K., Collins, D.L., & Higgens, C.E. (2012). Asian American men college students’ perceptions of people’s stereotypes about Asian American men. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 13(1), 75.
• Worthington, R. L., & Whittaker, T. A. (2006). Scale development research: A content analysis and recommendations for best practices. The Counseling Psychologist, 34(6), 806-838.
• Wright, T.A., Quick, J.C., Hannah, S.T., & Blake Hargrove, M. (2017). Best practice recommendations for scale construction in organizational research: The development and initial validation of the Character
• Strength Inventory (CSI). Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(5), 615-628.
• Yılmaz, Y., Acar, B., & Yaman, Ö. M. (2023). Üniversitelerin ruh sağlığı alanındaki bölümlerinde “toplumsal cinsiyet” konulu derslerin içerik analizi yoluyla incelenmesi. Yükseköğretim ve Bilim Dergisi, 13(3), 410-422.