A quarter of adults have been mocked for their accent in the workplace, survey shows
- Survey suggests accents are still a major factor in the acceptance by our peers
- Respondents said their abilities were judged badly for not speaking ‘BBC English’
- 29 per cent of working-class senior managers said that they had experienced it
Almost a third of students and a quarter of professionals have been mocked for their accents, research has found.
A survey suggests the way people speak still acts as a major factor in how they are accepted by peers and colleagues.
In many cases, respondents said their abilities were judged as worse because they did not speak ‘BBC English’.
This is despite only 10 per cent of the UK population having this accent.
Almost a third of students and a quarter of professionals have been mocked for their accents, research has found
The poll by the Sutton Trust charity found that 30 per cent of university students reported being mocked, criticised or singled out on campus as a result of their accents.
A quarter of professionals reported the same in work settings.
These experiences were particularly prevalent for those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, who reported significantly more mocking or singling out.
More than a quarter (29 per cent) of senior managers from working-class families said they had experienced it, compared with 22 per cent of those from better-off backgrounds.
Sutton Trust founder Sir Peter Lampl said: ‘This report recommends that action should be taken to diversify the workplace so that there is a range of accents within the organisation.’
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