Selective Empathy and Workplace Bullying: Lessons from My Experience in Finland

As Anti-Racism Week begins in Finland, we turn our focus to a less visible but deeply damaging issue: selective empathy in workplace conflicts. In this blog, our Peer Support and Family Work Planning Officer, Nora Dadi, shares personal reflections on how unconscious bias shapes workplace bullying, often favoring those who fit the traditional image of professionalism—while silencing those who don’t.

​How can we break these patterns and ensure workplaces are truly inclusive? Read on to explore concrete steps toward change. 

As Anti-Racist Week begins in Finland, I find myself reflecting on workplace bullying and bias, not just in theory but through my own experiences working here and observing the struggles of others in their workplaces.
One of the most frustrating dynamics I have witnessed is how often people unconsciously take the side of the bully when that person is:

• White
• Well-spoken in Finnish, especially if they use sophisticated or formal Finnish vocabulary
• Highly educated
• Well-dressed and fitting the expected professional image

​Meanwhile, the target of bullying is often a person of colour who may speak English as a second language and Finnish as a third. They may struggle to match the fluency and rhetorical sharpness of their white counterpart. They may express themselves differently, with accents or pauses as they search for the right words. However, their experiences are just as real.

Through my years working in Finland, I have learned that racism in the workplace is not always loud. It is often quiet, disguised as professionalism, language fluency and status. But we have the power to disrupt it by making conscious choices every day.

As Anti-Racist Week begins, let us start with ourselves. The work of anti-racism is about more than calling out discrimination. It is about unlearning our own conditioned biases.

​Wishing everyone a meaningful and productive Anti-Racist Week. Let us make it count.

Written by: nora dadi