Discrimination against working-class accents at our top universities needs to stop
This is the final article in this year’s series of student publications written as part of GO Justice’s Journalism for Social Change Project. The initiative was designed to support students interested in social justice to develop their journalistic writing skills and create a finished piece of writing for publication. We are delighted to share that all articles were selected to appear in The National newspaper. Here we publish a selection of the finished works.
Imagine working hard to make it a prestigious university against the odds and then sitting down in a seminar room only to be singled out and mocked. That’s what happened to my friend Sarah, a student at a Russell Group university in Scotland, earlier this year. The person doing the mocking? Her lecturer. The subject of his criticism? Her voice, which he said - in front of all her classmates - was “whiny” and “unprofessional”. Top universities across the country consistently advertise their commitments to equality, fairness and ending discrimination. So, it’s absurd that a deep-rooted stigma about working-class accents continues to pervade our campuses.
Over recent years, Scottish universities have increased their acceptance rates for widening participant students – those from deprived areas, or who have care experience, are estranged, young carers, forced migrants or adult learners. The latest Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) figures show that 16.7% of full-time first-degree entrants to Scottish universities came from the nation’s 20% most deprived areas, an increase from 16.3% the previous year.
But while universities might be opening their doors to more disadvantaged students, it seems like little is being done to to support them once they get there, or to tackle the discrimination faced by those with working-class accents. In fact, it seems like prestigious Russell Group institutions are trying to tick boxes and claim a diversity stamp, whilst sitting back and allowing pre-modern, classist, hierarchical mindsets to disadvantage the working-class.
The stigma towards working-class and regional accents is not new. Many won’t admit it, but certain accents have long been seen as indicators of poverty, brainlessness and impropriety. This comes from Britain’s long history of class division, but you’d think that in 2025 we would be able to recognise it as discrimination. Instead, the idea that working-class accents indicate a lack of professionalism is widespread and well-documented. Earlier this year, public speaking trainer Janice Haywood shared a client’s comments on LinkedIn: “[I] always feel a bit less credible because of my accent,” they said.
A Sutton Trust report in November 2022 found that anxiety about accent bias is highest during university, with 35% of university students and 24% of university applicants (17-18 year olds) feeling self-conscious about their accents. In the same report, 30% of university students reported having been mocked, criticised or singled out in educational settings due to their accents. When it happened to Sarah, it had a significant impact on her: “The criticism had nothing to do with my academic ability…I felt humiliated, singled out and mocked in front of my peers,” she told me.
It’s vital that universities do more to tackle this discrimination on their campuses. Not only is it a reminder of how the working-class in general are silenced by society’s embedded classism, it’s also having a direct impact on students’ experiences of university: whose confidence wouldn’t be knocked by the insinuation that their voices are less important, less credible and less professional than their peers who were born in affluent areas? Across Scotland, working-class students are holding back from participating in seminar conversations, from sharing their ideas in group work or from generally chatting with peers - all out of fear of discrimination.
There are signs that universities are beginning to take notice. In April 2025, the University of Edinburgh hosted ‘Speaking Out: Tackling accent bias an elite university’ – a half day event that included three talks from experts.’ This is a good start, but it only scratches the surface; a half-day, optional event does little to target those engaging in discrimination, to implement the necessary policies and training, or to support the students already affected.
It’s easy to put together a PowerPoint explaining why discrimination is wrong – but slides alone cannot combat the hierarchical, classist structures which have been strengthened through generations. At Russell Group institutions across Scotland, there is an argument for regular, mandatory student and staff training. There needs to be an in-house, practical system for recording discrimination complaints, effectively dealing with them, and offering support to victims. Prevention is vital, but this discrimination is already happening, and universities must be prepared to discipline those perpetuating it - even if that is their own staff.
When I think about Sarah and so many others like her, sitting in classrooms across Scotland, feeling humiliated and isolated, I want to tell them: your accent does not define your capability or credibility. Don’t tone it down, mask it or sit in silence. It is our universities’ responsibility to not only claim a discrimination-free environment, but to do everything they can to ensure this. It’s not good enough to just open doors for working-class students - they need to feel like they belong once they get inside.
~ Grace Galvin
