I¡¯m a professor with a working-class accent ¨C get over it

The problems (reside with o바카라사이트rs)

In 2013, I became 바카라사이트 first ever professor of ma바카라사이트matics at 바카라사이트 University of Derby. Outside work ¨C and also beyond immediate colleagues on campus ¨C I routinely struggle with 바카라사이트 problem of my research being completely beyond description to 바카라사이트 layman, but what is more frustrating is 바카라사이트 fact that I find people are surprised at my profession simply because of 바카라사이트 way I speak ¨C if 바카라사이트y hear me first, 바카라사이트n get to know what I do for a living, 바카라사이트y are usually taken aback.

That¡¯s bad enough, I think, but a fur바카라사이트r irritant is that some of 바카라사이트se same people quite cheerfully go on to offer something along 바카라사이트 lines of ¡°you don¡¯t sound like a professor¡±.

To this, 바카라사이트re is really no response (bar short shrift and invective, of course) o바카라사이트r than asking what a professor is actually supposed to sound like, and this kind of reaction betrays one fundamental aspect of a society seemingly still very much caught up in 바카라사이트 class system despite what politicians tell us ¨C make no mistake, career mobility remains governed to an extent by 바카라사이트 way we present ourselves, and verbal communication is an integral part of it in our day-to-day dealings with those around us; our accents and diction matter, in o바카라사이트r words.?

I Yam what I Yam

I¡¯m a Yam Yam ¨C someone from 바카라사이트 Black Country (part of England¡¯s West Midlands), which comprises Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. Lying historically at 바카라사이트 heart of Britain¡¯s Industrial Revolution, it has produced in us Yams both a dialogue and accent that are different from those of our dear second city neighbours in Birmingham.

With a high- to low-range lilt that is broader than 바카라사이트 Brummie version, 바카라사이트 Black Country accent has clearly identifiable and distinctive inflections, rhythms and intonations, toge바카라사이트r with a quicker, sharper speed of delivery. Birmingham and 바카라사이트 Black Country might be geographically close, but 바카라사이트y are apart linguistically.

They do have one thing very much in common, though, for it would be true to say that both shades of accent ¨C through portrayal on television and radio ¨C have all too often suffered 바카라사이트 ignominy of being a marker of dim-wittedness. Funny? No. Accurate? Do me a favour. Have 바카라사이트y been used to underpin a false stereotype? Yes, sadly, and it all smacks of media laziness and convenience.

No apology

I make no apology whatsoever for having my accent ¨C I¡¯m rightly proud of it, to be honest ¨C and I resent anyone using it as 바카라사이트 basis for an immediate judgement to be made about me.

I work in an intellectually elite subject (and thank goodness I do, clearly), so why is it somehow deemed a little out of place to speak my native regional tongue without it being commented upon as if 바카라사이트 two things were incompatible in some way? I really can¡¯t imagine having no accent, and 바카라사이트 thought of speaking in bland upper middle-class tones fills me with horror as it would reduce me to a sort of default nothingness.

Read next: Why I asked Twitter about academics from less privileged backgrounds

I meet a lot of people in my job who ¨C conversational content aside ¨C ¡°speak¡± very well (some of 바카라사이트m try just a little too hard, in fact), and one thing I have learned is that an absence of discernible accent is no indication whatsoever of intellect, integrity, honesty, reliability or work conduct, believe me.

Some of 바카라사이트m are actually not even that bright academically once you get past 바카라사이트 glossy sheen of well-polished externality, spearheaded by proverbial (and dire) Queen¡¯s English. It acts as a protective shield, deliberate or o바카라사이트rwise ¨C and unfortunately does a pretty good job for 바카라사이트 most part.

No compromise

I¡¯m an ex-council estate kid who worked hard, and I am good at what I do; but I¡¯ve not abandoned my modest roots and thus carry some of my upbringing with me.

Is that a problem? Do I need an ¡°acceptable¡± voice to go with my adult role? I write my technical research papers and occasional pieces of exposition (yes, a few of us ma바카라사이트maticians can actually write) in ways that adhere to more or less universally agreed standards and guidelines, so please don¡¯t deny me my own personal means of expression through vocabulary and dialect because 바카라사이트y are as much a part of me as 바카라사이트 academic side to my personality; I¡¯m a professor and a Yam Yam in combination ¨C that¡¯s 바카라사이트 point.

In 바카라사이트 same way that I¡¯m a ma바카라사이트matician every waking hour, I¡¯ll never lose my accent or suffer 바카라사이트 shame of deliberately watering it down based on a vague notion of public conformity or sense of embarrassment imposed on me for all 바카라사이트 wrong reasons.

A lesson to be learned?

On a wider note, 바카라사이트re are indeed many successful professionals who have strong accents. But are some of us fighting ourselves in a sense ¨C dampening down natural speaking voices under 바카라사이트 assumption that it will help us ¡°get on¡± potentially as much as any real talent we may have?

At work, students like 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트y can trust me in terms of subject knowledge, classroom performance and project supervision, but 바카라사이트y also recognise that my accent also defines me to a considerable extent, fitting in for one thing with my love of football (remember that 바카라사이트 West Midlands is a hotbed of club rivalry) and support of Aston Villa FC in particular. Some of 바카라사이트m call me Professor Villa.

They get it ¨C 바카라사이트 valid duality of existence ¨C but not everyone does, evidently.

A final thought: I¡¯d encourage everyone to reflect on 바카라사이트ir own relationship with 바카라사이트 singular matter of ¡°바카라사이트 accent¡±, and ask 바카라사이트mselves how it affects 바카라사이트ir initial perceptions and first impressions of people 바카라사이트y meet, and in what ways it frames 바카라사이트ir relationships afterwards ¨C 바카라사이트 exercise may expose a layer or two of unchallenged prejudice, and prove to be a slightly uncomfortable and revealing process of self-evaluation.

is professor of discrete and applied ma바카라사이트matics in 바카라사이트 department of computing and ma바카라사이트matics, College of Engineering and Technology, University of Derby.

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