{"id":3648,"date":"2025-11-06T22:01:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T21:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/?p=3648"},"modified":"2025-11-06T22:01:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T21:01:17","slug":"when-fluency-becomes-a-gate-the-new-face-of-linguistic-racism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/2025\/11\/06\/when-fluency-becomes-a-gate-the-new-face-of-linguistic-racism\/","title":{"rendered":"When \u201cFluency\u201d Becomes a Gate: The New Face of Linguistic Racism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left\" data-start=\"214\" data-end=\"572\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/files\/2025\/11\/letter-tiles-8516698_1280.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3649 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/files\/2025\/11\/letter-tiles-8516698_1280-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/files\/2025\/11\/letter-tiles-8516698_1280-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/files\/2025\/11\/letter-tiles-8516698_1280-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/files\/2025\/11\/letter-tiles-8516698_1280-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/files\/2025\/11\/letter-tiles-8516698_1280-500x334.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/files\/2025\/11\/letter-tiles-8516698_1280.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>A talented product manager moves from Bogot\u00e1 to Berlin. Her metrics are strong, her team trusts her, yet she keeps hearing small\u00a0comments: \u201cCould you say that again, more clearly?\u201d \u201cLet\u2019s have James handle the client call\u2014he\u2019s more\u2026 fluent.\u201d No one is overtly hostile. Still, over time, the message is unmistakable: your ideas are fine, but your voice isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"574\" data-end=\"1295\">We often celebrate global mobility as a path to creativity and growth. But in many workplaces today, a quieter barrier is rising alongside growing hostility toward migrants: linguistic racism. It\u2019s the practice\u2014sometimes conscious, often not\u2014of using language, accent, or perceived \u201cfluency\u201d as a proxy for competence, trustworthiness, or leadership potential. This isn\u2019t just semantics. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.taylorfrancis.com\/books\/mono\/10.4324\/9780203348802\/english-accent-rosina-lippi-green\">Linguists and sociolinguists<\/a> have long shown how language norms map onto power and race, making certain ways of speaking seem \u201cneutral\u201d and others \u201cdeficient\u201d\u2014even when everyone is perfectly intelligible.<\/p>\n<h2 data-start=\"1297\" data-end=\"1341\">What linguistic racism looks like<\/h2>\n<p>Linguistic racism comes in different disguises. Here are just a few examples:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"1343\" data-end=\"3030\">\n<li data-start=\"1343\" data-end=\"1701\">\n<p data-start=\"1345\" data-end=\"1701\"><strong data-start=\"1345\" data-end=\"1376\">Accent as a sorting device.<\/strong> In hiring and promotion, a \u201cnative-like\u201d accent is treated as a quality signal\u2014regardless of what the person actually says or delivers. Recent <a href=\"https:\/\/iaap-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1111\/apps.12528\">meta-analyses<\/a> find consistent penalties for non-standard or migrant-associated accents\/dialects in interview settings and selection outcomes.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1702\" data-end=\"2013\">\n<p data-start=\"1704\" data-end=\"2013\"><strong data-start=\"1704\" data-end=\"1729\">Monolingual defaults.<\/strong> Policies and norms assume one \u201ccorrect\u201d way of <a href=\"https:\/\/meridian.allenpress.com\/her\/article-abstract\/85\/2\/149\/32176\/Undoing-Appropriateness-Raciolinguistic-Ideologies\">speaking<\/a>. Multilingual assets go underused; multilingual people do extra emotional labor to fit a narrow mold.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2014\" data-end=\"2372\">\n<p data-start=\"2016\" data-end=\"2372\"><strong data-start=\"2016\" data-end=\"2060\">Meeting dynamics that punish difference.<\/strong> Fast-turn conversations, interruptions, and little summarizing amplify small differences in rhythm and idiom into big judgments about capability. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0022103110001459?casa_token=bzWR1iXITlUAAAAA:DHoFrXHJnKUSYga0UOdAFv_6bzGWJwBl8D08wEPyx6pYS1neooVSfduwWx52qsCyNOS-ZMgnSQ\">Experiments<\/a> also show accented speech can be (wrongly) judged less credible\u2014simply because it\u2019s a fraction harder to process.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2373\" data-end=\"2641\">\n<p data-start=\"2375\" data-end=\"2641\"><strong data-start=\"2375\" data-end=\"2404\">Tech that can\u2019t hear you.<\/strong> Automated interview platforms, call monitoring, and transcription tools struggle more with some racialized varieties of speech; error rates can be dramatically higher, baking bias into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/doi\/abs\/10.1073\/pnas.1915768117\">evaluation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"2642\" data-end=\"3030\">\n<p data-start=\"2644\" data-end=\"3030\"><strong data-start=\"2644\" data-end=\"2663\">Customer myths.<\/strong> \u201cOur clients prefer a certain accent\u201d becomes an unquestioned assumption that justifies keeping migrants away from revenue roles\u2014despite little hard evidence and clear legal risk where policies drift toward \u201cEnglish-only\u201d by default.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 data-start=\"3032\" data-end=\"3067\">Why this matters for global work<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"3069\" data-end=\"3437\">Global companies rely on two things that language touches directly: <strong data-start=\"3137\" data-end=\"3146\">speed<\/strong> (how quickly knowledge flows) and <strong data-start=\"3181\" data-end=\"3194\">inclusion<\/strong> (how many brains actually contribute). Linguistic racism slows the first and shrinks the second. It also undermines your brand in diverse markets. If your organization can\u2019t hear an employee\u2019s voice, it\u2019s unlikely to hear a customer\u2019s either.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3439\" data-end=\"3830\">There\u2019s also a deeper identity cost. Migrants already navigate the tension between fitting in and staying true to themselves. When \u201csounding right\u201d becomes a condition for opportunity, people start opting out\u2014of meetings, of stretch roles, of the company altogether. The result is lower engagement and higher voluntary turnover among precisely the globally minded talent firms say they want.<\/p>\n<h2 data-start=\"3832\" data-end=\"3858\">So what can leaders do?<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"3860\" data-end=\"4074\">How can leaders bring people close enough\u2014linguistically and culturally\u2014to collaborate effectively <strong data-start=\"3991\" data-end=\"4002\">without<\/strong> erasing the distinctiveness that makes global teams strong? Here are six levers:<\/p>\n<ol data-start=\"4076\" data-end=\"6035\">\n<li data-start=\"4076\" data-end=\"4497\">\n<p data-start=\"4079\" data-end=\"4497\"><strong data-start=\"4079\" data-end=\"4134\">Redesign selection to separate content from accent.<\/strong><br data-start=\"4134\" data-end=\"4137\" \/>Use structured interviews, scoring guides tied to job-relevant signals, and work-sample tasks. Ban \u201cnative speaker\u201d requirements unless a legal or safety need makes them essential\u2014and write down the rationale.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"4499\" data-end=\"4851\">\n<p data-start=\"4502\" data-end=\"4851\"><strong data-start=\"4502\" data-end=\"4551\">Set a common language with humane guardrails.<\/strong><br data-start=\"4551\" data-end=\"4554\" \/>It\u2019s fine to name a working language for coordination. It\u2019s not fine to police casual interactions or forbid other languages in breaks and sidebars. In U.S. contexts, \u201calways English\u201d rules face <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eeoc.gov\/laws\/guidance\/eeoc-enforcement-guidance-national-origin-discrimination\">EEOC scrutiny<\/a> unless narrowly tailored to business necessity.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"4853\" data-end=\"5132\">\n<p data-start=\"4856\" data-end=\"5132\"><strong data-start=\"4856\" data-end=\"4876\">Fix the meeting.<\/strong><br data-start=\"4876\" data-end=\"4879\" \/>Slow the cadence. Share agendas and materials in advance. Rotate facilitation and note-taking. Summarize decisions in writing. Invite \u201clast-word\u201d contributions by chat or follow-up. These small structures dilute the power of \u201cfluency-as-performance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"5134\" data-end=\"5531\">\n<p data-start=\"5137\" data-end=\"5531\"><strong data-start=\"5137\" data-end=\"5157\">Audit your tech.<\/strong><br data-start=\"5157\" data-end=\"5160\" \/>If you use automated transcription, interview AI, or call analytics, test them across accents and dialects common in your workforce and markets. Where performance is uneven, provide human review channels and don\u2019t use those outputs in performance decisions.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"5533\" data-end=\"5767\">\n<p data-start=\"5536\" data-end=\"5767\"><strong data-start=\"5536\" data-end=\"5566\">Challenge the client myth.<\/strong><br data-start=\"5566\" data-end=\"5569\" \/>If someone says, \u201cOur customers won\u2019t accept that accent,\u201d ask for evidence. Pilot diverse frontline teams. Provide coaching on framing and turn-taking\u2014not accent reduction as a condition for access.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"5769\" data-end=\"6035\">\n<p data-start=\"5772\" data-end=\"6035\"><strong data-start=\"5772\" data-end=\"5812\">Build the pipeline, not the penalty.<\/strong><br data-start=\"5812\" data-end=\"5815\" \/>Offer language support as development, not remediation. Fund presentation coaching and cross-cultural communication training for <em data-start=\"5947\" data-end=\"5957\">everyone<\/em>, including so-called native speakers, as they will benefit from clarity habits, too.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p data-start=\"6608\" data-end=\"7210\">There\u2019s a simple test for assessing how you progress: <strong data-start=\"6644\" data-end=\"6705\">Do people feel heard even when they don\u2019t sound like you?<\/strong> If the answer is no, your diversity advantage is eroding in plain sight. Start small. Rewrite one job ad. Add a two-minute written recap to the next meeting. Ask a vendor for their accent-parity numbers. Move a high-potential colleague with a stigmatized accent into a visible role and support them publicly. These moves won\u2019t make headlines, but they\u2019ll make your organization more capable in a world where talent and ideas cross borders, even when politics tries to build walls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A talented product manager moves from Bogot\u00e1 to Berlin. Her metrics are strong, her team trusts her, yet she keeps hearing small\u00a0comments: \u201cCould you say that again, more clearly?\u201d \u201cLet\u2019s have James handle the client call\u2014he\u2019s more\u2026 fluent.\u201d No one is overtly hostile. Still, over time, the message is unmistakable: your ideas are fine, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":345,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18330],"tags":[25692,72773,102589],"class_list":["post-3648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-views-and-news-about-expatriates","tag-discrimination","tag-dominant-language","tag-global-work","megacategoria-mc-leadership-and-people-management"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/345"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3648"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3652,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648\/revisions\/3652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}