The rhetoric of ‘bringing yourself’ is not living up to workplaces in which employees are consistently facing the pressure to ‘code switch’ and cover up their accents.

Research from social enterprise company Creative Access and communications giant FleishmanHillard underlines the tough truth about language discrimination in the creative industries. Over three quarters (77%) of respondents working in the creative industries feel they had to change their accents in the workplace, specifically when dealing with clients.

The Language of Discrimination Report, which draws on a survey of 301 members of the Creative Access community, as well as a nationally representative survey of 2,000 adults, underlines that class, education and background are still holding talent black in the industry.

Elonka Soros, Development Director at Creative Access, explains: “The emotional labour of frequent code-switching – the change in one’s behaviour to match their peers – remains an issue in the industry not just in how it impacts the quality of the work produced, but more importantly on the wellbeing of employees.”

She continued: “For those who constantly change their manner of speech, a core part of their identity, it leads to higher rates of burnout and anxiety, highlighting the need to foster more inclusive environments for diverse voices.”

According to government data, there are currently over two million people across the UK working within the creative industries, however, according to research from the PEC over half (52%) of the creative industry workforce is from high socio-economic backgrounds, compared to 38% across all industries. 

With social mobility remaining an acute issue within the creative sector, addressing the issue of accent bias is a key step in driving more inclusivity. Recent research conducted by experts from the Universities of Manchester, Edinburgh and Sheffield reveals that class inequalities within the creative sector have not evolved since the 1970s. It highlighted data from the Office of National Statistics that outlined 16.4% of creative workers born between 1953 and 1962 had a working-class background, but that had fallen to just 7.9% for those born four decades later.

Today’s report highlights that many in the creative industries, as well as the UK at large, have felt prematurely and subconsciously judged because of their accent and manner of speech in formal, workplace scenarios. 

Ben Levine, Senior Partner and Head of the UK socio-economic employee resource group at FleishmanHillard added: “Accent bias won’t go away on its own. There’s always more we can do as individuals, and as an industry, by fostering inclusivity among our ranks. Be it by adapting blind recruitment processes further, checking our own internalised biases or by calling out remarks about our colleagues’ accents, we can create a more welcoming workplace. 

He continued: “Thanks to our partners at Creative Access, we can have those honest conversations and reflections, and take them in our stead to bring in, keep and nurture the diverse voices our industry needs.”

The research supports the findings of The Sutton Trust’s Speaking Up report, which revealed that public attitudes to different accents have remained unchanged over time. Its findings revealed that ‘Received Pronunciation’ remains the dominant accent in positions of authority across the media, despite less than 10% of the population estimated to have this accent, exclusively from higher socio-economic backgrounds.