Accent Bias and Fair Access in Britain

Note: This talk has not gone through a process of peer review, and findings should therefore be treated as preliminary and subject to change.

SOAS Linguistics Webinars:  Accent Bias and Fair Access in Britain
April 28, 2021

Erez Levon
Professor of Sociolinguistics, University of Bern

Abstract: Accent is one of the most salient signals of social background in Britain, yet its role in unequal professional outcomes remains under-examined. In this talk, I present results from a set of recent studies conducted to examine accent bias in Britain: 1) a nationwide survey of attitudes to accent concepts (labels), 2) a nationwide survey of attitudes to accent variation in speech, and 3) a specialist survey of accent attitudes among legal professionals. Together the studies show continuing bias in Britain, particularly against working-class accents, but also incremental attenuation of bias by context. I discuss the implications of these findings for the role that accent bias might play in impeding social mobility and professional advancement in the UK, and I mention possible interventions and policy initiatives that could help in overcoming the negative effects of accent bias.