The Role of Accents Through a Sociolinguistic Lens in Shaping Employees' Experiences and Inequalities At Work

Little is known about the role of accents in organisations and how they shape employees’ experiences and influence workplace inequalities, particularly from the perspective of the speaker. This is despite growing attention to social mobility and diversity in the UK, with a pressing need for research that unpacks the subtle ways class bias operates within organisational cultures and structures (Ashley, 2022). Given the strong ties between accent and social class in the UK, this thesis adopts a sociolinguistic lens with Bourdieu’s (1991) theorisations to examine employees’ experiences in an elite organisation. Where research on accents has been conducted in the fields of management and organisation, sociolinguistic insights have been overlooked, while sociological research tends to neglect workplace dynamics (Donnelly et al., 2019).

To respond to this gap in the literature, this study integrates Bourdieu’s (1991) symbolic theory of capitals with a sociolinguistic framework. This dual lens enables a nuanced exploration of how accents are differentially valued within elite professional contexts and more specifically, within dominant speech communities. Through this approach, the research investigates how accents reflect and reinforce class inequalities, shaping how individuals experience work and perceive opportunities for advancement. Data was collected in the UK law sector via thirty semi-structured interviews and ethnographic observations conducted within Thames Law, an elite case study organisation. To analyse the data, a thematic analysis technique was used to identify themes that represent how employees experience, interpret and respond to accent-related dynamics at work.

Three key themes emerged from the data. The first theme delves into the cultural (in)congruence standard accented and non-standard accented employees felt when comparing their accent with the prevalent middle-class culture of the firm. The second theme highlights employees’ perceptions of equal opportunity, finding that those with non-standard accents often feel overlooked or misrecognised at work, negatively impacting their career progression. The third theme articulates employees’ reported behaviours in their struggle to overcome stigmatised identities and linguistic insecurity, reproducing class inequalities through accent modification or maintenance. This thesis contributes to our understanding of how accent operates not merely as a mode of speech, but as an embodied form of capital, structuring inclusion and inequality in professional environments. This research argues for the recognition of accent as a critical dimension of diversity and as a mechanism through which classed distinctions are reproduced within elite organisations.