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Is Welsh woman victim of rising ‘accentism’?
22 March 2022 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Do accents matter in modern Britain? The question has been raised following a young Cardiff woman tweeting distressing interview feedback stating her ‘strong Welsh accent’ would not suit ‘the office environment’.
Eluned Anderson, aged 22, is Holocaust UK’s regional ambassador and posted the message online last night saying it was the “first time I’ve ever been told I’ve got a strong Welsh accent, so I suppose that’s a win?”
But Elund, who has not revealed the source of the comment, is not alone as it appears the issue is causing upset and concern for many job seekers.
In fact, a new report found that candidates are more concerned about being discriminated against because of how they speak than they are due to their religion, politics, or sexual orientation.
The findings come from a survey of 2011 applicants released by specialist talent acquisition software provider Tribepad.
According to the report, accents ranked eighth on the list of issues that Britons believed would negatively impact their chances of landing a job or a promotion; sitting alongside factors such as race, religion and gender.
Despite efforts to “Level Up” parts of the UK, the report revealed that more still needs to be done to reduce long standing regional biases.
The analysis showed there was a clear North-South divide when it came to candidate concerns with people in cities like Liverpool (17.2%), Leeds (16.5%), Newcastle (15.1%) and Birmingham (14%) among those most likely to believe their accent would be a barrier to getting a job or promotion.
Indeed Liverpudlians were twice as likely to be concerned about the stigma associated with their accents than those with softer inflections in cities such as Southampton (9.9%), suggesting that stereotypes that have been built over centuries are still leading to bias in modern Britain today.
10 UK cities most concerned about the impact of ‘accentism’
- Liverpool (17.2%)
- Leeds (16.5%)
- London(16.1%)
- Newcastle(15.1%)
- Birmingham(14%)
- Edinburgh(13.2%)
- Belfast (12.5%)
- Nottingham(12.3%)
- Cardiff(12.1%)
- Sheffield (10%)
Dean Sadler, Tribepad CEO, said: “While employers have invested in efforts to address diversity, equity and inclusion, our report shows that candidates still believe that bias is playing a significant role in recruitment processes,” said .
“The fact that candidates worry that something as simple as their accent is impacting their employment opportunities is hugely concerning. Despite the massive amounts of data collected by employers the current approach to bias simply isn’t working, and the time has come for us to find a fairer system for everyone.”
Gavin Murphy, 37, podcaster and video producer from East London is originally from Maesycwmmer in the Rhymney Valley, Wales. He said: “I had a producer literally tell me he’d never put me on the main show until I ‘softened my accent’. He genuinely said non-Welsh audiences wouldn’t understand me.
“I was too young and stupid to tell him what I thought. It’s why my accent is so mad now. I’ve started going back to my authentic accent now but it’s a conscious thing I’ve had to do. He basically broke my brain.”
Andy Green a director of social enterprise Grow Social Capital, said: “My experience, with a Cockney accent, is that sadly, there are still employers out there who let their prejudices and bias, often without recognising it, blind them to seeing the full person because they don’t talk ‘proper’ – and it’s their loss.:
Have you experienced ‘accentism’? Get in in touch @thehrworld