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) – for both students and academics alike (Crew, 2024). While much less explored, there is also research examining the experiences of ancillary, administrative or professional services staff (PSS) from working-class backgrounds. Since much of this analysis centres on difficulties and barriers, in this blog post I will focus on the benefits that working-class professional services staff can bring to a higher education community and institution.

My experience in ‘Professional Services’ was as departmental engagement officer and then communications manager in a Russell Group university.^[1] As with many PSS roles, this also veered into other areas such as student recruitment, careers support, alumni relations, informal pastoral care and – because of my own working-class background – widening participation (WP) initiatives.

Having studied at a Russell Group university, albeit many years ago, I know what it feels like to be a working-class, first-generation student. This lived experience means not only am I more likely to recognise students from similar backgrounds but I am also more likely to understand any challenges they face. Needless to say, working-class people are not a monolithic group. Students with protected characteristics or other intersecting identities will face unique and often compounded challenges. Still, when it comes to class, the recognition and increased empathy from working-class PSS can lead to better student engagement and wellbeing.

‘When it comes to class, the recognition and increased empathy from working-class professional services staff can lead to better student engagement and wellbeing.’

This isn’t just of value to those from working-class backgrounds – it benefits all students to be surrounded by a plurality of perspectives and lived experiences in their university community. Given the position of, and value ascribed to, PSS within the institutional hierarchy compared to their academic colleagues (Pilgrim-Brown, 2024), this ‘representation’ must be accompanied by academic staff from similar backgrounds to avoid widening this gap in perception of value.

Evidence suggests that working-class students are more likely to underperform at university and drop out, which indeed is what I did in my first year at the leading institution. When I went back to (a different) university a year later, pastoral support from one particular professor, as well as administrative staff, from working-class backgrounds was invaluable. Students often need ongoing support throughout their time at university – the challenge is not just in gaining access to these institutions but being able to thrive once there.

Just as the presence of working-class academics can result in more varied, current or representative/relatable curricula, the presence of working-class professional services staff can lead to improved institutional processes and policies. While working at another leading institution, I volunteered as an assessor for equality impact assessments, to look at equity implications of any policies, practices, functions or services. Despite the fact that socioeconomic status is not a protected characteristic under the UK’s Equality Act 2010, staff and students from working-class backgrounds were considered as a separate group. Who better to identify potential challenges they may face, and concomitant mitigations and support systems, than people who are familiar with them?

Similarly, the presence of staff in professional services roles can potentially lead to stronger community engagement and partnerships – particularly if those staff have a connection to the local area. When I delivered a workshop to a Widening Participation cohort of 16- and 17-year-olds from a local London school, the fact I was a Londoner from a working-class background was clear to them, despite our other differences, visible and invisible. This changed the dynamic of the session and enriched our engagement. Class may indeed be hard to ‘spot’, but it is deeply embodied. As Annette Kuhn put it: ‘Class is something beneath your clothes, under your skin, in your reflexes, in your psyche, at the very core of your being.’

As widening access to Higher Education continues to be a priority for many institutions, I hope that more attention will be paid to these crucial functions, and to the insights and skills that working-class people, with all their intersecting identities, can bring to these roles.

[1] The Russell Group are a self-selected group of 24 research-intensive universities in the UK.

References

Crew, T. (2024). Working-class academics: Challenging deficit narratives through cultural wealth. Journal of Working Class Studies, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.13001/jwcs.v9i2.9237

Kuhn, A. (1995). Family secrets: Acts of memory and imagination. Verso.

Pilgrim-Brown, J. (2024). ‘Helping academics shine’: An exploration into the relationships working-class professional services staff have with others in UK higher education. Higher Education, 90, 387–405. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-024-01328-5

Reay, D., Crozier, G., & Clayton, J. (2010). ‘Strangers in paradise’? Working-class students in elite universities. Sociology, 43(6), 1103–1121. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038509345700