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 and research with other working-class women, I’ve learned that relatability, empathy and reflexivity are powerful academic tools. This blog post reflects on the value of being a working-class academic, highlighting how we enrich, challenge and help make academia better.

Challenging elitism and broadening perspectives

The presence of working-class academics in UK higher education (HE) is often framed in terms of marginalisation and social mobility – who gains access and who does not. This framing overlooks the transformative impact of working-class academics on academia through contributions to knowledge, pedagogy and institutional culture.

Higher education remains shaped by middle-class norms, influencing definitions of success and valued knowledge (see Heffernan, 2023). Through lived experience, critical reflexivity and social justice perspectives, working-class academics are disrupting dominant narratives, broadening research agendas and addressing neglected issues such as educational inequality (Loveday, 2018). Their work challenges assumptions about legitimacy and belonging in academia, ensuring working-class lives are represented with nuance not deficit (For example Attridge, 2021;; Taylor, 2021).

‘Working-class academics’ work challenges assumptions about legitimacy and belonging in academia, ensuring working-class lives are represented with nuance not deficit.’

Relatability and empathy

Working-class academics often bring a deep sense of relatability and empathy to their practice, creating more inclusive spaces for students from similar backgrounds. Their understanding of first-generation struggles – financial pressures, imposter syndrome – makes them more likely to implement supportive teaching strategies (Crew, 2024).

These academics serve as visible role models, inspiring and helping students from similar backgrounds feel a sense of belonging, countering exclusion and self-doubt. I’ve always been open about my background – I’ve faced barriers I now see mirrored in my students (see McLaughlin, 2024). This has shaped my empathetic approach. For example, like the women in my doctoral research study, I am working class and returned to education as a mature student, seeking mobility, independence from welfare and validation. I understood the demands of juggling study, work and childcare while navigating a system unfamiliar to my social circle.

The personal as a catalyst for research and the power of lived experience

Working-class academics help bridge the gap between universities and communities they serve. Their insider knowledge brings depths to researching topics such as social mobility, and class identities. Their experience allows them to ask different questions, interpret data differently and challenge dominant narratives.

My own experience informed my research. Teaching working-class students on an Access to HE course deepened my belief in education’s transformative potential and gave me a critical lens to challenge myths like meritocracy. I saw how working-class women succeed despite – not because of – the structures in place.

Reflections on the research process

I wasn’t fully an insider – the working class is not a homogeneous group. Intersecting factors shape each story. A reflexive approach helped ensure I didn’t impose my own views on their narratives. Still, my background helped build trust. Many participants were eager to share their stories with someone who understood – highlighting how shared experience can foster collaboration over extraction. A rewarding part of the process was witnessing the pride participants took in their stories. Many had never been asked about their educational journeys and found the interviews cathartic – an opportunity to reflect, vent and celebrate.

Final thoughts

Being a working-class academic brings challenges but also valuable strengths. My background offered an empathetic, critical lens, while reflexivity ensured accountability in my research. My journey through doctoral research into my role as a university lecturer affirmed the importance of amplifying working-class voices – not just to challenge elitism, but to highlight education’s transformative potential.

Despite underrepresentation and structural barriers, working-class academics enrich research, foster inclusive teaching and drive equity in HE. They don’t just belong in academia – they make it better.

References

Attridge, É., 2021. Understanding and managing identity: Working-class students at the University of Oxford. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 45(10), pp.1438-1453.

Crew, T. (2024). Exploring student support, class solidarity and transformative pedagogy: Insights from working class academics. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 45(7–8), 1042–1058. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2024.2392146

Heffernan, T. (2023). The marginalised majority in higher education: Marginalised groups and the barriers they face. Palgrave Macmillan.

Loveday, V. (2018). The neurotic academic: anxiety, casualisation, and governance in the neoliberalising university. Journal of Cultural Economy, 11(2), 154–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2018.1426032

McLaughlin, S. (2024). Using Bourdieu’s concept of habitus to explore higher education decision-making for working class women on an access to higher education course. Studies in the Education of Adults. Advance online publication.  https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2024.2374617

Taylor, Y. (2021). Working-class feminist activism: Social justice and education. Palgrave Macmillan.