This training is for people EXTERNAL to UMass Lowell. If you are a UML faculty member interested in participating in a bystander training, please see the Making WAVES Bystander Training webpage for more information.

Training Overview

CWW’s approach to Bystander Training addresses the harm that results from experiencing microaggressions. Like a mosquito bite, one microaggression may not be a big deal. But imagine being bitten multiple times a week, year-round. This is what happens for many people in the academic workplace, particularly those from underrepresented social identity groups. Be part of the effort to address these harmful expressions of bias by learning how to become an active bystander.

We invite participants from all ranks and disciplines to become better equipped to notice and intervene when microaggressions occur. The training introduces our distinctive Get A Collective GRIP® approach developed by the Making WAVES team at the UMass Lowell's Center for Women & Work (CWW) as part of an Institution Transformation Project funded by the National Science Foundation ADVANCE Program.

The two and a half-hour-long training is a hands-on practical session that uses role playing and vignettes to help participants develop confidence in their ability to notice microaggressions and intervene.

While participation in this workshop will equip participants with individual skills to intervene as an active bystander, more enduring change requires an in depth institutional effort, of which this workshop is only one component. For those seeking to truly transform their organizational climate to reduce microaggressions, CWW also offers ongoing consultations and trainings to support implementing the Get A Collective GRIP® approach within their own institution.


Upcoming Bystander Trainings for non-UMass Lowell audiences  

This training is FULL

  • May 19, 2 – 4:30 p.m. EST
  • Price:  Before May 10: $100;  After May 10: $125
  • Open to the first 20 registrants.

Training Facilitators

Our Bystander Trainings are facilitated by UML Equity Leaders. Our Equity Leaders are faculty from across the UMass Lowell campus who are part of the NSF-funded ADVANCE IT Making WAVES initiative, which seeks to address subtle bias and microaggressions in order to promote an inclusive climate for all members of our UMass Lowell community.