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 (Pilgrim-Brown et al., Forthcoming) and my recent research (Crew, 2024, 2025), this blog post examines how working-class academics (WCAs) embrace their working-class background as strengths, leveraging Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth model and its various forms of capital to navigate HE.

The first of these capitals, Aspirational capital refers to maintaining hope despite obstacles. O’Connor’s (Forthcoming) research shows that WCAs often become agents of organisational change, despite resistance from established hierarchies. One respondent, in my research, powerfully illustrated this: ‘We can do so much, despite everything there has been in our way’ (Crew, 2024, p. 104). This hope often stems from family foundations.

Dominic, a senior lecturer in Education, drew on his family’s union history when researching employment disadvantage, demonstrating how Familial capital – cultural knowledge nurtured within families – becomes a powerful academic resource. Tina, a lecturer in Secondary and Post-Compulsory Education, relies on her parents who read her work aloud when her vision worsens, demonstrating how familial bonds provide crucial scaffolding for academic success.

Both Dominic’s and Tina’s experiences also illustrate Social capital – the networks of relationships that enable individuals to navigate challenging environments. This proves vital for disabled WCAs facing compounded challenges, as Wilde’s (Forthcoming) research confirms. My respondents developed practices to help decode academia’s ‘hidden curriculum’ – unspoken norms students are expected to know without being taught (see Birtill et al., 2022). These included writing retreats, peer teaching sessions, academic paper workshops and working-class networks. These approaches demonstrate Navigational capital – skills for manoeuvring through institutions not designed for working-class people, transforming exclusionary spaces into accessible ones.

‘Despite facing accent bias, the working-class academics I interviewed discovered their regional accents helped students feel more comfortable in academia.’

Beyond institutional navigation, WCAs also transform communication norms. Despite facing accent bias, the WCAs I interviewed discovered their regional accents helped students feel more comfortable in academia. One participant reflected: ‘My regional accent is a reminder to students that academics aren’t just posh people.’ This reveals how Linguistic capital – skills developed through diverse communication – can become a pedagogical asset, breaking down barriers between academics and students from similar backgrounds.

This transformation extends beyond communication to challenging systemic inequalities. Brandon, described using his disability history to expose and combat ableism by making the ‘invisible visible’. This challenge to dominant narratives exemplifies Resistance capital – knowledge fostered through opposition to inequality. Such pedagogical approaches don’t just educate; they transform institutional cultures and practices.

Institutional transformation

As HE faces increasing calls for inclusivity, institutions would benefit from recognising and valuing the cultural wealth that working-class people bring. Recommendations include:

• including social class in equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) frameworks
• addressing employment precarity in HE
• valuing diverse knowledge in hiring processes.

Alongside these measures, creating solidarity spaces, as described by Betts and Pickering (Forthcoming), would provide WCAs with ‘a forum to connect, decompress, and share concerns and observations particular to the intersection of working-class and academic identity’, fostering community and resistance against class inequalities.

Only by embracing the cultural wealth of working-class people can we create inclusive academic environments. The transformation of HE depends on recognising that working-class contributions represent valuable assets to be celebrated, not deficiencies to be overcome.

References

Betts, L., & Pickering, L. (Forthcoming). Solidarity spaces and places of reflection: Working-class identity in higher education arts faculty. In J. Pilgrim-Brown, T. Crew, & É. Attridge. (Forthcoming). Working class people in UK higher education: Precarities, perspectives and progress. Emerald Publishing.

Birtill, P., Harris, R., & Pownal, M. (2022). Unpacking your hidden curriculum: A guide for educators. Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/members/unpacking-your-hidden-curriculum-guide-for-educators.pdf?sfvrsn=51d7a581_8

Crew, T. (2024). The intersections of a working class academic identity. A class apart. Emerald Publishing. https://doi/10.1108/9781837531189

Crew, T. (2025). Working class academics and mental health: Challenges and coping strategies. SN Social Sciences, 5(66). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-025-01090-0

O’Connor, R. (Forthcoming). Becoming a ‘proper’ academic as a pracademic: Eating the imposterism trifle in an elite university. In J. Pilgrim-Brown, T. Crew, & É. Attridge. (Forthcoming). Working class people in UK higher education: Precarities, perspectives and progress. Emerald Publishing.

Wilde, A. (Forthcoming). ‘But in your case…?’ The normative trajectory of academic, class-based disablism in higher education. In J. Pilgrim-Brown, T. Crew, & É. Attridge. (Forthcoming). Working class people in UK higher education: Precarities, perspectives and progress. Emerald Publishing.

Yosso, T. (2005). Whose culture has capital a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 8, 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006