Source: The Conversation – Canada
People who speak with an accent know it can lead to discrimination. It can cost them in job interviews, at work and in everyday exchanges. But what they usually have to go on is anecdote: their own experiences and those of people they know.
Interestingly, research demonstrates that listeners can often understand accented speech well. Yet those findings rarely reach accented speakers themselves or the practitioners who make important decisions that affect their lives, such as hiring managers.
That disconnect served as motivation for our recent projects. They aim to help people better recognize, understand and combat accent bias.
Read more:
Accentism for profit? What Telus is getting wrong about accents
Turning participants into researchers
One promising way to address the gap between researchers and practitioners is citizen science, which treats members of the public as researchers.
It’s typically used to collect local data on a large scale via activities like photographing wildlife or tracking plastic pollution.
This approach is usually unidirectional, with citizen scientists handing data over to researchers. We wanted knowledge to flow both ways.
That led us to adopt a community-based participatory approach, in which community members are involved at every stage, from study design to publication.
Immigrants studying their own experience
Our previous research culminated in an accent-bias workshop with human resources professionals and newcomers. This time, we advanced the work by integrating community members from the beginning.
We began with an informational workshop on accent bias for community members and HR students, whom we invited to join the research as citizen scientists. The resulting team has 12 community co-researchers and six academic ones. All are first- or second-generation immigrants to Canada, with diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds.
Over eight weeks, the team met to discuss accent bias, reflect on lived experience and develop mini-projects to challenge it in everyday life. Each citizen scientist identified an example of accent bias, then designed and carried out a project to address it. Academic co-researchers served as facilitators.
What we learned about accent bias
The mini-projects focused on sparking conversations and raising awareness. For example, Sawri Madkaikar, a career adviser and facilitator at YWCA Metro Vancouver, wrote a LinkedIn post that paired an accented speaker’s experience with accent bias in Canada with research findings about the topic.
Karolyn Chen, an HR co-ordinator at Maples Group, worked with other co-researchers on a video featuring Montréal residents. Each person introduced themselves in English and in their first language. They then chose one word to describe what diversity means to them and shared their feelings about the presumed link between a person’s accent and their competence.
Their journeys as citizen scientists led to personal and professional growth for community co-researchers, who viewed themselves as agents of change.
When the team reunited a year later, many described changes in their thoughts about accents. Some were more aware of the connection between accent and identity. Others said they had more patience and empathy toward accented speakers.
Chen reflected that “there’s no need to rush anyone or to be frustrated” when communication is difficult, and that there is “no shame in just asking [speakers] to repeat themselves.” Madkaikar spoke about the insecurity that many accented speakers carry, noting that they “feel like they’re not good at English, which is not the case.”
Above all, co-researchers came to realize that combatting accent bias is everyone’s job, not just that of accented speakers.
Recognizing bias is the first hurdle
Co-researchers also highlighted the challenges. Because accent bias is frequently covert, it can be disguised as a simple failure to understand the speaker. They also discussed the difficulty of finding the right response to accent bias and supporting the person targeted in the moment.
This makes the challenge twofold: accent bias is hard to notice, and even if we notice it, we don’t have the strategies to respond.
Looking ahead, co-researchers expressed willingness to continue the collaboration. Success might mean greater public awareness of accent bias, and spaces where accented speakers feel included and secure.
As Chen noted, and we all agreed: “[Educating] even one person is a great start.”
Steps toward combatting accent bias
Because there are few practical tools available, we conclude with three steps anyone can take:
Focus on what people are saying, not how they’re saying it. Asking an accented speaker where they’re from, or commenting on their accent, may seem harmless. But both shift attention away from the speaker’s message.
Listen with patience and empathy. Even if a person speaks with an accent, you can probably understand them. And if there is a word or phrase that you don’t catch, just ask.
Get to know accented speakers. The more you interact, the better you’ll understand them.
How would you respond when you experience accent bias?
There is more to learn and more to do about accent bias. We encourage you to join our LinkedIn group and visit our website.
This article was co-authored by Karolyn Chen, an HR co-ordinator at Maples Group, and Sawri Madkaikar, a career advisor and facilitator at YWCA Metro Vancouver.
Mary Grantham O’Brien receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Gento Okawa, Lin Lu, and Ryuichi Suzuki do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/11/01/fighting-accent-bias-is-everyones-job-not-just-accented-speakers/