Accent bias and social mobility in the UK
Professor Devyani Sharma, Queen Mary University of London fortæller om det meget spændende projekt ”Accent Bias Britain”.
Abstract
An accent is one of Britain's most salient signals of social background, yet its role in unequal professional outcomes remains under-examined. The Accent Bias Britain project has conducted a series of studies on attitudes to accents in the UK and the context of professional recruiting. In the first part of this talk, I review some of our findings on attitudes among LISTENERS:
- attitudes to accent labels (n=827, general public);
- attitudes to accented voices (n=1014, general public; stimuli were interview responses by law firm candidates);
- judgements of expertise (n=61, legal professionals; same audio stimuli manipulated for good/poor quality of content), and
- real-time reactions while listening to stimuli (n=160, general public).
Results show incremental attenuation of bias by context, from the ‘labels’ study, which shows a strong and enduring hierarchy of accent prestige over 50 years, to the ‘lawyers’ study, which shows an almost complete suppression of bias. The fourth study reveals evidence of ‘covert listening bias’ based on an early categorisation of speakers, even where survey methods may show a lack of bias. In the second part of the talk, I turn to new data from the SPEAKERS perspective, which shows fluctuating accent-based career anxiety during the lifespan (with regional and social class differences), along with experiences of bias and a compromised sense of belonging in institutions. The presentation will reflect throughout on the implications for social mobility, and I will close with a description of our current initiatives with external partners to address these issues in the UK.