Friday 25 November 2022 11:11 AM Interviewers are less likely to hire people if they can't place their accent, ... trends now
Interviewers are less likely to hire candidates with an accent they can't place, a study has revealed.
Researchers from the University of Queensland in Brisbane assessed the frequency at which applicants with 'non-standard' accents get a job.
A non-standard accent was defined as one different from that generally known and accepted as the way of speaking.
The team examined the results of 27 separate studies on accent-bias and found that women from minority groups receive the most discrimination. Men, on the other hand, are judged the same regardless of their accent.
The University of Queensland team examined the results of 27 separate studies on accent-bias, and found that women from minority groups receive the most discrimination
Lead author Dr Jessica Spence said: 'We found accent bias was strongest against people in marginalised or minority groups.
'This is concerning because more than 272 million people live in a country other than their place of birth and one of the top motivations for migration is better job opportunities.
'Non-standard accents work against candidates when they already battle minority status.'
The study, published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, looked at the success rate of 4,576 interviewees in total.
They all spoke English with a large variety of accents, including American, Mexican-American, British, Arabic and Chinese.
They found there was 'strong prejudice' demonstrated if a candidate had a foreign accent relative to the native language, such as with Chinese-accented English.
But there was not one for regional accents, which were defined as native variations, like Northern American and Southern American, or ethnic variations, like American and African American, to dialect.
The bias was stronger for roles that required communication, so the researchers concluded this was related to the candidate's potential job performance.
However, they also think that prejudice could play a part, if the non-standard accent signalled an 'otherness' to the interviewee and they were devalued as a result.
Indeed, the comprehensibility of the applicant's accent, or how easy it felt to understand it, did not appear to affect this observed hiring bias.
The authors suggest that some employers could use the communication requirements of the role to rationalise their own bias.
The bias was stronger for roles that required communication, so the researchers concluded this was related to the candidate's potential job performance (stock image)
