Linguistic diversity and accent bias in Higher Education and beyond

• Dates: 2023–24
• Funding body: Michael Beverley Innovation Fellowship
• Value: £7,500
• Primary investigator: Gisela Tomé Lourido (Linguistics & Phonetics)
• Language at Leeds satellites: Embracing Linguistic Diversity; Language and Society
• Language at Leeds themes: Language and society

Biases against people's accents may lead to unfair treatment or unequal access to opportunities. Accent-based discrimination affects access to jobs, promotions, housing and other aspects of daily life, such as student life at university.

This project aims to develop sustainable initiatives to celebrate linguistic diversity and tackle accent-based inequalities in different sectors, starting from Higher Education. Initiatives include a survey of university students' experiences of accent-based disadvantages, and developing context-specific solutions in partnership with Leeds University Union, EDI teams, and Higher Education institutions.