Researchers who surveyed thousands of Britons found that young people from the north of England and the Midlands were much more likely to worry that their accent would take a toll, compared to people from the south of England (excluding London). An 18-year-old from the West Midlands told researchers: “I don’t want to change my accent but I’m convinced I have to before I can go to [university] or to be employed. “I’m never made to feel that way locally, but on trips or holidays I constantly expect to be embarrassed or made fun of for my accent.” The report concludes that employers must actively ensure that accent bias is taken seriously and does not become a proxy for other forms of discrimination. Among adults surveyed, 25% said their accents had been mocked or criticized at work, while 47% of university students and 46% of adults said their accents had been singled out or mocked in social situations. Some 44% of sixth formers from the north of England said their accent had been criticized or emphasized, compared with 30% in Scotland and 24% in the south of England. The study also reported that public perceptions of accents had not changed over the past 50 years, with the received accent, sometimes known as BBC English or ‘The Queen’s English’, rated as the most famous accent in 2019, as had been done in similar surveys in 1969. Both surveys ranked African-Caribbean and Indian accents along with those from Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham as the least known. Professor Devyani Sharma, of Queen Mary University of London, the author of the report, said the results showed that a hierarchy of “prestige accent” remained in British society and needed to be addressed by employers. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “Accent-based discrimination actively harms certain groups at key junctures for social mobility, such as job interviews,” he said. “This creates a negative cycle, where regional, working-class and minority accents are heard less in certain careers or positions of power, reinforcing stress and marginalization for these speakers.” Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust, which funded the research, said: “It is disgraceful that people are mocked, criticized or singled out for their accents throughout their education, work and social life.”
