Anonymous asks here about potential interview bias/hiring against non-native English speakers:
What are the biases against those candidates for whom English is a second language? How much does one's accent influence her/his epistemic reliability as a scholar, as well as a potential teacher, in the context of the job interviews? Do some accents (e.g., of French speakers) make one sound more sophisticated and knowledgeable than others (e.g., east asian)? What kind of measures, if any, are taken to prevent this sort of bias?
I've known a number of philosophers on the market for whom English was a second language. Some were extremely and comfortably fluent, and it did not seem to affect their prospects (although they faced immigration/visa hurdles instead). So, I would imagine that fluency and how easily you are understood (or perceived to be understood) matter here. Just having a non-American accent (British or Australian, say) does not seem to be an impediment.
(As an aside, I spoke to an insurance agent on the phone the other day, and she had a very, very pronounced Southern accent, and I really struggled to understand her. I wonder if there may be biases against certain regional American accents?)
As American universities admit growing numbers of international students, this becomes a relevant issue for those students if they hope to pursue an academic job in the US. Is the deck stacked against them if they have an accent?
~zombie
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