Man who changed accent to fit in was asked if he was from ‘desolate wasteland’

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Student experiences: – Northern Irish student “I want to go into academic research and I am scared even with a more ‘posh’ regional accent I would be hindered.” – Scottish student “Medicine feels very elitist, and my working class Scottish accent will not fit that narrative.” I feel as though my work won't be taken seriously if I don't change my accent Student from Liverpool – Derbyshire student “I am at medical school and very few doctors I have met have regional accents.” – Liverpool student “I don’t hear my accent when I watch videos of scientists giving talks and I don’t hear my accent from lecturers in the field. I also believe that it is a disgrace that people should be ashamed to speak in the native accent.” – Black Country, age 19 “For a couple of weeks, I did have a group of other students mimic an extreme version of a Black Country accent every time I spoke.” – Newcastle student “A lot of times people mock my accent, but that doesn’t particularly bother me. At interviews, I remember one boy from London asking a large group of people if they could “actually understand accent”, which was pretty awful and not a nice first impression of university.” Law and civil service experiences: – Liverpudlian “In a work context I was told ‘Ha, you’re not a typical civil servant, are you? And I have seen my colleagues be incredibly disparaging towards women with working class Essex accents.” – South London “I felt as though in school people would be able to tell I was poor from the way I spoke so I changed the way that I spoke to try and sound less common.” – West Midlands “My accent became a lot milder once I left home and the area I grew up in.