Is your accent holding you back?

Accent bias – Surprising, but even today, it really is a thing.

Being someone who has, in the past,  struggled to develop a positive narrative around my ‘working class’ Northern accent, in a recent conversation I was dismayed to hear Geordie accents labelled as ‘too distracting’ and not appropriate for broadcast. 

This upset me.

“Don’t be upset, darling. It’s just a bias. Take it with intelligence” was my multilingual, Italian-Romanian  husband’s advice  - he is no stranger to accent bias.

However, application of said intelligence aside, as someone who is proud of my Northern roots and who speaks with a soft Geordie accent, this comment disappointed me for two reasons. 

Triggered

1.   Speaking is what I do. It’s what I have always done. For years now I have spoken to people from all around the world.  I have been told by people that my accent gives me character, makes them happy; feel safe; that it holds their interest -  and that my words are powerful - without the need for subtitles! The idea hat my accent might be too ‘distracting’ makes me feel self-conscious.

2.   This resurfaced a negative accent bias that I believed we had evolved past as we have grown as a global society. And it makes me uncomfortable.

You see, I have not always embraced my Northern accent. There was a point, way back in the mists of time (or so I thought),  people seriously believed that that the only way for anyone to get on in the professional world of work was through adopting an Received Pronunciation (RP) accent. (Think Victorian British class divisions and ‘them below stairs’ mentality) Just to be clear, this post is not a criticism on anyone that still believes this, or who speaks with an RP accent through luck of birth or rigorous training. It is, however, intended to raise awareness of the impact that accent bias can have on others perception of themselves, and the perpetuation of social limitation it can create.

My mother, having been brainwashed into believing Northern accents to be quite the detractor from future prospects, raised me to speak ‘proper English'. She judged anyone who did not speak as though they had been undergoing elocution lessons just in case the Queen unexpectedly popped up to Newcastle for an afternoon brew as consciously choosing disqualification from a  career with any responsibility or prospect of advancement.

Apparently back then accent = limit to opportunity = glass ceiling in the workplace.

Apparently to some people it still does now.

Not so 'across the pond'

Imagine how far I may have got if I had stuck to RP English. Or just moved to the USA.

It seems that British accent bias was highlighted during President Trump's impeachment inquiry, when Fiona Hill, a British-born US security adviser, gave evidence on Capitol Hill.

Dr Hill, who is from County Durham and also speaks with a Geordie accent, suggested that her accent would have held her back if she still lived in the UK.

At the hearings she said: "This country has offered for me opportunities I never would have had in England. I grew up poor, with a very distinctive working-class accent. In England in the 1980s and 1990s, this would have impeded my professional advancement. This background has never set me back in America."

But here were are in  the UK in 2021, with that comment about accent ringing in my ears.

 "Bias becomes discrimination when we allow these associations to govern our judgement of unrelated traits such as intelligence or competence.”

(Accent Bias Britain)

A recent 2020 study by Accent Bias Britain  revealed that has shown that accent bias is pervasive in the UK, but concluded “people in positions of power have the capacity to resist this effect.” Interestingly people of power seem also be in the demographic who consistently display such bias: “older listeners (over 40 years of age) display biases towards a number of none RP accents”

 But if, like me, you are in possession of a regional UK accent, I want to let you know that there is hope for the future. The report also revealed: “Younger listeners make no such distinction.”

Is one to conclude then, that this archaic viewpoint on accent may be forced to shift as these ‘younger listeners’ flood the workplace, taking on powerful positions,  free of judgement, deaf to the distraction of accent and fully focussed on the content of the conversation? 

One would hope so.

And what a relief that will be! 

Source:

https://news.sky.com/story/revealed-why-your-accent-could-be-holding-you-back-11871382

https://accentbiasbritain.org/accents-in-britain/

https://accentbiasbritain.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Accent-Bias-Britain-Report-2020.pdf

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/sara-davies-mbe-7406854_mystory-northerner-entrepreneur-activity-6795984224315871236-1qsD