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This is definitely a thing in the UK, especially in an office/professional environment. There are far fewer people with a strong regional accent as opposed to a

This is definitely a thing in the UK, especially in an office/professional environment. There are far fewer people with a strong regional accent as opposed to an RP [1] accent in senior roles. You will also never hear a continuity presenter on the BBC Radio 4 with a regional UK accent, although strong Caribbean accents are OK [2] [1] https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/received-pronunciation https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/rece... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Nunes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Nunes

toyg 6y ago
The BBC has been working pretty hard to change its ways since the Blair years, pushed by the likes of John Prescott actually calling the shots. The difference in presenters' accents now, compared to the '90s, is like night and day - a lot of them actually exaggerate their regional inflections now, particularly on the radio. Which is a good thing overall. Things can improve still but I'm not an advocate for the wanton destruction of RP either, there is value in a certain image the BBC built up over the years (particularly abroad) and losing it completely would be damaging. For example, that "mildly bored" tone that used to be commonplace in RP speakers, and which people directly associate with "poshness", has basically disappeared already in public broadcasting... it's a bit sad. But yeah, in everything else, the disparity is pretty glaring. I knew I was doing well professionally when I noticed I was attending more and more meetings where the dominant accents were RP and other Mid-Southern England inflections, and I was doing badly when I heard less of that.
- gadders 6y ago
  Funnily enough, I saw this in my inbox today: Banking headhunters deny discrimination on the basis of regional accents https://news.efinancialcareers.com/us-en/3004920/headhunters-deny-accent-discrimination https://news.efinancialcareers.com/us-en/3004920/headhunters...

toyg 6y ago

The BBC has been working pretty hard to change its ways since the Blair years, pushed by the likes of John Prescott actually calling the shots. The difference in presenters' accents now, compared to the '90s, is like night and day - a lot of them actually exaggerate their regional inflections now, particularly on the radio. Which is a good thing overall. Things can improve still but I'm not an advocate for the wanton destruction of RP either, there is value in a certain image the BBC built up over the years (particularly abroad) and losing it completely would be damaging. For example, that "mildly bored" tone that used to be commonplace in RP speakers, and which people directly associate with "poshness", has basically disappeared already in public broadcasting... it's a bit sad. But yeah, in everything else, the disparity is pretty glaring. I knew I was doing well professionally when I noticed I was attending more and more meetings where the dominant accents were RP and other Mid-Southern England inflections, and I was doing badly when I heard less of that.

gadders 6y ago
Funnily enough, I saw this in my inbox today: Banking headhunters deny discrimination on the basis of regional accents https://news.efinancialcareers.com/us-en/3004920/headhunters-deny-accent-discrimination https://news.efinancialcareers.com/us-en/3004920/headhunters...