Rachel Vorobyev immigrated to the United States from China when she was in her late 20s. Even though she had studied English since middle school and understood the language, she spoke with a strong Chinese accent. Vorobyev, who took her husband's Russian surname, has been successful in her career but believes her accent could keep her out of the corner office.

It can also keep you out of business school in the U.S., reports NPR, which found business schools around the country are hesitant to interview foreigners, citing English-proficiency and work-visa issues. 

Alma Morales Riojas was born in Texas but Spanish was her first language. From Texas to Southern California, you'll find many American Latino families where Spanish is the language that's most often used in the home while English is used outside the home. While Riojas is regularly told by white Americans that she does not speak with an accent, she says her accent is part Texan, part Spanish.

"We all have an accent," says Riojas, president and CEO of MANA, a national organization that advocates for Latinas. "Having an accent is usually an indicator you can speak more than one language but with the huge immigration issue, people are more speculative of whether you can speak English. People see accents as indicating you're new to this country. Accents are still viewed by some as a measure of intelligence." (See also: Don't Apologize for Your Accent and All About Accents: What You Told the White Guy)

Brown's, Vorobyev's and Riojas' experiences illustrate the trickiness of accents. Some accents, especially from English-speaking countries, add "class" and "prestige" while others, including Spanish and Asian languages, may cause communication gaps and create the false impression that the speaker isn't bright.

"Only 10 percent of career advancement depends on knowledge, the rest is communication skills and networking skills," says Vorobyev, who is head of Local Market Improvement and Targeted Growth Market, Business and Operations for Aetna, one of DiversityInc's 25 Noteworthy Companies in 2007.

(See also: Study of Latino Professionals Shatters Stereotypes)

What's the Law?

Firing, demoting or not promoting an employee based on accent does not violate federal law "if an individual's accent materially interferes with the ability to perform job duties ... Employers should distinguish between a merely discernible foreign accent and one that interferes with communication skills necessary to perform job duties," says the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC adds that an employer may fire an employee or not hire a person because of an accent if effective oral communication in English is required to perform the job duties and the person's accent interferes with their ability to communicate in English, including teaching, customer service and telemarketing.

Vorobyev points out that her accent has not knowingly hurt her professional opportunities, but it has affected her confidence. "Communication skills and networking skills play a more important role for career advancement, so in a way, accents will be considered part of your communication skills. That's why accent reduction is good," says Vorobyev. For more on her story and others' immigrant success stories, read the September 2007 issue of DiversityInc magazine.

Brown, on the other hand, has confidence in her accent because it has generally been well received. The difference is that Brown's first language is English, so she is confident in her knowledge of the language.

"I strategically pull out my accent when I find it is the right environment," says Brown, director of diversity human resources at Rockwell Collins. "If it's an environment where I need to engage the audience, I'll use it to my advantage."

Most people assume Brown's accent is British. "The only conclusion I can draw is that people look to England as a place with more prestige and status. When they look at the Caribbean, which is primarily [populated with] minorities, it is cast in the light of poverty and not considered a place that is serious about education," she says.

Brown knows that while her accent may be well received by certain audiences, senior-level executives are different. A negative reaction is rarely revealed, so in settings where she is addressing senior-level executives or the company's board, she errs on the side of caution and downplays her accent.

"In the boardroom, I'm highly conscious of it because at that level you don't necessarily get feedback. You don't hear if someone doesn't look at it favorably," says Brown.

It is that unknown that has many executives with foreign accents trying to diminish them. The American Speech-Language Hearing Association reported a 15 percent increase from 2005 to 2006 in the number of inquiries.

"Most of our clients are [executives] or federal agencies," says Judy Ravin, president of the Accent Reduction Institute. "Not just our economy but our work force is becoming global."

Critics of accent-reduction efforts say they force people to lose their ethnic identities. Ravin, however, counters that accent reduction teaches executives to pronounce sounds that do not exist in their native language.

"I get this call all the time: 'We have an employee but we can't place them with a client because clients can't understand them.' So we level the playing field, and by leveling the playing field, people have equal opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge."

The Cultural Connection

Riojas says losing an accent doesn't mean one has lost a cultural connection but that one has a good ear for languages.

"I see that as a true bilingual individual who is able to maintain a language with all that goes with it and pick up a second language and all that goes with it," says Riojas. "Unfortunately, it isn't translated as that until they need you to translate something."

Ravin adds that she is focused on developing pronunciation, not eliminating an accent. "I believe if we substitute 'accent' for 'pronunciation,' it wouldn't be an emotionally charged topic," says Ravin.

Vorobyev and Brown agree that they are not losing their cultures as their accents become less pronounced.

"My understanding of culture is that it is deeper and broader than an accent," says Vorobyev. "It is values, beliefs and connections people have that carry forward through generations and communities."

Brown says that it is not the loss of her accent but that she is not engaged in Jamaican culture on a daily basis that has caused her Jamaican identity to diminish. After the many years she's lived in the United States, Brown is seen as highly Americanized because she is not fully aware of the happenings in Jamaica, she said.

"An accent is part of your culture, but diminishing your accent in a business setting has an advantage," said Vorobyev.

(See also: Don't Apologize for Your Accent)