'Accent reduction' is racist to some but empowering to others. Here's a look at the controversy

Four years ago, Elizabeth took a "Business English" people to pass amended with her colleagues. 

But the 35-year-old Taiwanese nonrecreational who lives successful Singapore said they inactive ridicule her accent. 

So she's present reasoning astir taking much courses, with 2 goals successful mind: to amended her English pronunciation and "remove" her autochthonal accent, she said.

"I deliberation my Chinese accent is truly annoying to others," said Elizabeth, who asked that CNBC not usage her existent sanction to support her employment.

"I bash deliberation [removing it] volition beryllium beneficial for my idiosyncratic beingness and assistance maine to execute amended astatine work."

Globally, astir 1 successful 5 workers accidental they consciousness they've been passed implicit for concern trips due to the fact that of the mode they speak, according to an SAP Concur report published successful June.

The results were astir pronounced successful Asia-Pacific, particularly Australia/New Zealand (31%), Taiwan (26%) and Singapore/Malaysia (25%).

But immoderate non-native English speakers person occupation conscionable getting their ft successful the door.

A study published successful 2022 recovered that occupation candidates who talk with "standard accents" — that is, the accent mostly accepted successful a fixed region — are much apt to beryllium hired. The probe recovered this was owed to a cognition that different accents thwart communication, to accent prejudices — oregon both.

"Disentangling these 2 explanations is not easy," Jessica Spence, a postdoctoral researcher astatine The University of Queensland and 1 of the study's authors, wrote in an article connected The Society for Personality and Social Psychology's website.

People whitethorn rationalize not hiring an accented talker due to the fact that of concerns astir their connection abilities, erstwhile — adjacent if unconscious — the determination whitethorn beryllium rooted successful underlying prejudices, she wrote.

The survey — which analyzed 27 different studies connected this taxable — recovered that occupation candidates' comprehensibility, oregon however casual they are to understand, did not impact whether they got a occupation offer.

"What was related to hiring decisions, however, was judgments of the candidates' perceived societal status: We recovered that candidates who spoke with non-standard accents were rated arsenic little competent and little intelligent," she wrote.

The survey besides recovered that accent bias was acold much pronounced for pistillate occupation applicants, arsenic good arsenic for those with overseas accents, than those with determination ones.

That leaves professionals who enactment extracurricular of their location countries, similar Elizabeth, successful a bind, which is wherefore she said she's present considering paying for accent simplification classes astatine the New York-based institution Accent Advisor.

The institution teaches "the Standard American Accent … that you perceive connected American quality programs and successful educated circles," according to the website.

In an email reply to CNBC queries, the institution said, "The extremity of accent grooming is not to eradicate accents, but to empower individuals to pass much efficaciously and confidently portion preserving their unsocial taste heritage."

One-on-one online sessions are 25 minutes agelong and commencement astatine $18 per lesson, according to its website.

Others acquisition grooming provided by their organizations, said Regina Kim, an adjunct prof astatine Fairfield University's Dolan School of Business. 

"If employees consciousness that their accents are impeding them … grooming whitethorn beryllium helpful, particularly for those who consciousness that their dense accents get successful the mode of communicating with others," she said. 

Tracey Derwing, prof emeritus astatine the University of Alberta, told CNBC that grooming tin beryllium conducted by a trained connection teacher oregon code connection pathologist. But accent simplification courses that committedness to get escaped of a definite accent successful a abbreviated play of clip are more popular, she said.

Brad Harris, a prof of absorption astatine HEC Paris concern school, cautioned that it whitethorn not beryllium tenable oregon steadfast to promote employees to alteration their accent, if it's a beardown portion of their identity.

"In a batch of ways, this is akin to the thought of 'code switching' which is exhausting and unsustainable for employees," helium added. 

Ritu Bhasin, enactment specializer and writer of "The Authenticity Principle," agreed, telling CNBC: "It horrifies maine that companies would bid radical to anglicize their accent — that is simply a nonstop reinforcement of … racism."  

But Elizabeth said she sees specified courses arsenic a mode of "taking control" of her situation. 

"I don't consciousness similar I'm removing portion of myself. My volition is to pass amended with different radical and to rapidly summation spot astatine work," she said. 

Elizabeth likens learning an American accent to "just 1 of the tools" successful her arsenal — 1 she tin deploy erstwhile needed.

"It is convenient to accidental oregon knock specified courses, but that's forgetting existent problems that I americium facing each day," she added. 

"People are already biased and prejudiced nary substance what," she said. "If everyone is truly truthful genuine and accepting of each other, we wouldn't adjacent beryllium talking astir this."

Even so, Kim said, non-native speakers shouldn't person to alteration the mode they talk to fulfill others' biases.

"The work for interrupting racism successful the workplace is connected leadership, not the worker who's really experiencing it," Bhasin added. 

For employers and organizations, it's important for leaders to person bias-disruption training, Bhasin said.

"I'm definite that galore leaders don't adjacent recognize that accent-based bias exists," she said.

"We request to thatch however bias shows up successful everything from recruitment practices, to enactment allocation, from mentorship to compensation decisions and succession planning." 

Based connected Kim's research, role-taking simulations — wherever autochthonal speakers are asked to talk successful a overseas connection and perceive to their ain code — is effective.  

"Many interviewees claimed that autochthonal speakers deficiency empathy due to the fact that they bash not cognize what it feels similar to enactment successful a overseas connection connected a regular basis," she added. 

The much 1 is exposed to an accent, the easier it becomes to recognize it. So companies tin besides promote teams to enactment unneurotic for longer periods of time, Kim said. 

Plus, "as squad members collaborate implicit time, they person much opportunities to speech personal, idiosyncratic information," she said. "Consequently, surface-level differences — specified arsenic ethnicity, sex and connection — go little important successful defining a person."

Ivona Hideg, an subordinate prof successful enactment studies astatine York University, said companies should not shy distant from sending individuals with accents connected concern trips.

"What managers thin to bash is what we telephone third-party prejudice accommodation," she said. "They're saying: 'I person nary prejudice against you, but my lawsuit does. I'm not going to nonstop you due to the fact that of my client.'"

But that lone perpetuates prejudice and stereotypes, she said. "Managers are blameworthy of prejudice, arsenic overmuch arsenic they'd similar to deliberation they're not."