Mocking people for their class is discrimination – so why don’t we treat it as such?

One in four professionals have been mocked or singled out in the workplace due to their accent. Shutterstock/Roman Samborskyi

Many people can recall moments when they have been mocked, judged or subtly excluded because of where they are from, how they speak or because they seem out of place in certain settings. These moments rarely look like overt discrimination. Instead, they might take the form of jokes, assumptions or signals that someone doesn’t belong.

Class-based discrimination might...