Bias | Half of Brits think accent negatively impacts their career

How much does regional elocution affect your job prospects? It’s a murky question, yet one that has worrying implications for the state of UK business’ bias against those from either foreign countries or from other parts of the UK.

Historically, those seeking to elevate their position would take elocution lessons before starting out in their desired field. For example, in his recent Desert Island Discs interview, Sir Ian McKellen discussed the process of attempting to lose his Northern accent.

A recent poll of over 2,000 UK professionals by the Equality Group found that it's not surprising the Lord of the Rings star did. A shocking 55% believe that the stigma around their accents negatively impacts their career progression, whilst 76% believed that a ‘posher’ accent was an indication of a higher socioeconomic status.

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Worryingly, 22% even admitted to altering the way that they speak and changed regional and national dialect to ‘fit in’ – one in ten have even deliberately chosen to hide where they were born to their employer, over fears of being cast aside.