The invisible minority: revisiting the debate on foreign-accented speakers and upward mobility in the workplace
Akomolafe, S.
Journal of Cultural Diversity 20(1): 7-14
2013
ISSN/ISBN: 1071-5568 PMID: 23614175 Document Number: 666219
Of some of the major types of discrimination, the one that gets the least attention is national origin discrimination and in particular, accent discrimination, especially when it comes to upward mobility in the workplace. Yet, unlike other forms of discrimination, accent discrimination is rarely a subject of any robust public debate. This paper is a modest attempt to help establish a framework for understanding the relative neglect to which the discourse on accent discrimination has been subjected vis-a-vis the overall national debate on diversity. Hopefully, in the process, it will stimulate a more robust conversation on the plight of foreign-accented speakers.