The cost to teams

Competency microaggressions can lead to less-effective team interactions.

Healthy deference fosters group cooperation. When one person is seen as a legitimate leader, the others will follow to be seen as reasonable and contribute to collective tasks. However, when race or gender consistently drives who gets shown more deference, teams not only miss out on women's contributions but overlook women for promotions.

Furthermore, when individuals experience a microaggression, they defer less to their team members because of how negatively they feel toward them. This can impact how teams function.