Direct or interpersonal discrimination occurs when one is treated unfavourably in direct interaction on the ground of possessing certain characteristics. Direct discrimination can take many different forms – from ignoring the discriminated person, through offensive jokes about them, omitting their voice in group work or discussions, to clearly unfair and hurtful behaviour, such as not giving them a bonus they deserve or omitting in promotion. Direct discrimination is particularly likely to occur when people with stereotypical characteristics function in hierarchical structures.

In order to tell whether we are dealing with direct discrimination in a particular situation, we need to consider whether a person with a certain characteristics is treated differently than someone without these characteristics would be treated in a similar situation. This can be answered by the so-called “what if not” test, where answering simple hypothetical questions gives a better understanding of whether direct discrimination has taken place. Examples of questions in such a test might be: "If I were not a woman, would my application for this position be successful?" or "If I were not from the Ukraine, would they rent this apartment to me?”.

Example: A lecturer impatiently cuts a student's oral exam short only because the student does not speak fluent English (this would be discrimination regardless of whether the reason is the student’s disability or their descent).

Example: A supervisor overseeing research in a laboratory declares that women are less predisposed than men to this type of work. There is one woman on the team and when she presents the results of the measurements, one of the men is told to check the results. The men presenting their results have not been double-checked in this way before.

Example: There is only one male student in the seminar group and the teacher says that because it is easier to work in unisex groups, she will address him in the feminine form.