Blog Special Issues
Working-class people in UK higher education (UKHE) have historically been viewed through the lens of deficit (), amid a shifting and transient understanding of what it means to be working class as an identity in the United Kingdom (). Often conceived as a social class relationship associated with a type of employment or work (usually manual, skilled or unskilled labour or similar), the construct of working class has also been associated with economic factors, poverty and deprivation, dispositions of taste and culture, and, within a university context, first-generation students ().
This ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog special issue draws directly from the upcoming edited book collection Working-class people in UK higher education: Precarities, perspectives and progress (Pilgrim-Brown et al., Forthcoming), and in doing so draws deliberately on the intersections between social class, other protected characteristics, and the many different career stages and roles that are represented both by the book, and within this special issue. At a time when UK higher education faces increasing scrutiny over inclusion and relevance, this special issue demonstrates how working-class voices can drive institutional transformation, offering practical solutions to harnessing working-class perspectives as catalysts for positive change.
Reflecting these diverse perspectives, this special issue explores the many different experiences of working-class people across UK academia.
The contributions to this issue explore:Â
Research Fellow at University of Bristol
Dr Jess Pilgrim-Brown is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol and a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Oxford. She previously worked in professional services, in elite sports coaching, and as a consultant researcher....
Senior Lecturer at Bangor University
Dr Teresa Crew is a senior lecturer in Social Policy at Bangor University. Her research explores barriers faced by disadvantaged groups. She is the author of two books, including The Intersections of a Working-Class Academic Identity (2024),...
PhD Researcher at University of Cambridge
Éireann Attridge is a sociologist of education with a specific interest in higher education, class inequalities and narratives of (im)mobility. Her research is an ESRC-funded mixed methods project on the ways in which social class and social...
Working-class people in UK higher education (UKHE) have historically been viewed through the lens of deficit (Crew, 2024), amid a shifting and transient understanding of what it means to be...
In higher education (HE), working-class people have long been viewed through a deficit lens which overlooks their cultural wealth and transformative potential. Drawing from our edited collection...
Universities play a key role in the ‘meritocratic myth’. In our contribution to this ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog special issue, we consider how disability and social class challenge the persistent regulative...
UK higher education (HE) has undergone profound transformation since its early inception. No longer the preserve of the elite few, HE has since massified. Despite the expansion of UK HE being a...
There is plenty of literature examining the challenges that people from working-class backgrounds face in UK higher education – particularly in more ‘elite’ institutions (Reay et al., 2018)...
In this post for this ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog special issue I reflect on the underrepresentation of Black working-class voices, which remain starkly underrepresented in education and literature. This is not...
As a working-class woman, my positionality has shaped my perspective – not just as a learner but as a researcher and educator. My class background is a source of strength. Through my teaching...
In this contribution to this ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog special issue we report the findings of a national survey which investigated how far current demographics of the Classics teaching and learning community...
Ed recently completed a doctorate at the University of Oxford’s Department of Education and teaches academic skills at Oxford. Isabelle is an undergraduate historian who works with Ed regularly....
Science is often celebrated as the ultimate meritocracy. But while scientific Truth may be objective, the process of discovery is deeply influenced by who gets to participate in it. For too long,...
Nelson Mandela famously stated: ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ But to weaponise education for change, people from all backgrounds must be able...
Working-class people in UK higher education (UKHE) have historically been viewed through the lens of deficit (Crew, 2024), amid a shifting and transient understanding of what it means to be...
Continue reading blog postEd recently completed a doctorate at the University of Oxford’s Department of Education and teaches academic skills at Oxford. Isabelle is an undergraduate historian who works with Ed regularly....
Continue reading blog postNelson Mandela famously stated: ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ But to weaponise education for change, people from all backgrounds must be able...
Continue reading blog postThere is plenty of literature examining the challenges that people from working-class backgrounds face in UK higher education – particularly in more ‘elite’ institutions (Reay et al., 2018)...
Continue reading blog postIn this contribution to this ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog special issue we report the findings of a national survey which investigated how far current demographics of the Classics teaching and learning community...
Continue reading blog postIn higher education (HE), working-class people have long been viewed through a deficit lens which overlooks their cultural wealth and transformative potential. Drawing from our edited collection...
Continue reading blog postAs a working-class woman, my positionality has shaped my perspective – not just as a learner but as a researcher and educator. My class background is a source of strength. Through my teaching...
Continue reading blog postScience is often celebrated as the ultimate meritocracy. But while scientific Truth may be objective, the process of discovery is deeply influenced by who gets to participate in it. For too long,...
Continue reading blog postUniversities play a key role in the ‘meritocratic myth’. In our contribution to this ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog special issue, we consider how disability and social class challenge the persistent regulative...
Continue reading blog postIn this post for this ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog special issue I reflect on the underrepresentation of Black working-class voices, which remain starkly underrepresented in education and literature. This is not...
Continue reading blog postUK higher education (HE) has undergone profound transformation since its early inception. No longer the preserve of the elite few, HE has since massified. Despite the expansion of UK HE being a...
Continue reading blog post
