The Lives of Working Class Academics: Getting Ideas Above your Station

Traditionally academia has been seen as an elite profession, for those with an academic background and from the middle/upper classes. This is what makes the life of a working class academic all the more interesting, rich and powerful. How have they become who they are in an industry steeped in elitism? How have they navigated their way, and what has the journey been like? Do they continue to identify as working class or has their social positioning and/or identities shifted? Iona Burnell Reilly presents a collection of autoethnographies, written by working class academics in higher education – how they got there, what their journeys were like, what their experiences were, if they faced any struggles, conflicts, prejudice and discrimination, and if they had to, or still do, negotiate their identities. Told in their own words the academics chart their journeys and explore their experiences of becoming an academic while also coming from a working class background. Although a working class heritage under-pins the autoethnography of each of the writers, the interlocking sections between class, race, gender and sexuality will also be relevant.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1. Navigating the Relational Character of Social Class for Capitalism in the Academy; Alpesh Maisuria Chapter 2. Mr. Airport Man & the Albatross: A reverie of flight, hope and transformation; Craig A. Hammond Chapter 3. Power, corruption and lies: fighting the class-war to widen participation in higher education; Colin McCaig Chapter 4. ‘Friends First, Colleagues Second’: A collaborative autoethnographic approach to exploring working-class women’s experiences of the neoliberal academy; Carli Rowell and Hannah Walters Chapter 5. Coming to terms with the academic self: place, pedagogy and teacher education; ML White Chapter 6. The Rubik’s Cube of Identity; Khalil Akbar Chapter 7. Uptown Top Ranking: From a Council Estate to the Academy; Marcia A. Wilson Chapter 8. One’s Place and the Right to Belong; Iona Burnell Reilly Chapter 9. Who do you think you are? The influence of working class experience on an educator in a process of becoming; Peter Shukie Chapter 10. John Constable was my first art teacher: Construction of desire in a working-class artist/academic; Samantha Broadhead Chapter 11. Class is a verb: lived encounters of a minority ethnic academic who self-identifies with aspects of working-class cultures in the UK; Stephen Wong Chapter 12. Reading the posh newspapers; Teresa Crew Chapter 13. Thames Estuary Academic; Jo Finch Concluding chapter: Tackling ‘the taboo’: the personal is political (and it’s scholarly too); Michael Pierse

About the Author :
Iona Burnell Reilly is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Education and Communities at the University of East London. Iona’s teaching background is in Further Education where she taught English (ESOL) and Access to HE courses for 10 years. She completed her doctorate at The University of Sheffield in 2013. Her research interests and published work are in social class and inequality in education, widening participation, equality and inclusion in higher education, and the experiences of working class students in higher education.

Review :
This compelling anthology of stories from academics who identify as having a working-class background offers new insights into our understanding of the relationship between academia and class. Offering a substantial contribution to the body of research that uses autoethnography, the volume opens a platform for academic authors to reflect on their own lived experience through critical study of oneself and one’s own socio-cultural context. The book is a useful resource for autoethnographic research and readers who want to understand the lived experiences of becoming a higher education professional; they will see farther and more clearly through the authors’ lenses. Although a working-class heritage under-pins the autoethnography of each of the writers, the intersections of social class with race and gender are also explored, providing in-depth knowledge about personal journeys into academic life. While the legacy of elitism remains in higher education, and with very little history or class culture in the field of higher education to identify with, the volume can, give voice to and authenticate their experiences, and more importantly, challenge the dominant discourses that maintain and perpetuate elitism and exclusion within higher education. The collection provides a solid foundation for students and academics, of important questions being asked about transitioning into academic life. This book fully explores the developmental journey and experiences of working class academics, using an effective approach which brings together class, race, ethnicity, gender and the intersection between them. Class issues which have long been sidelined are finally foregrounded and examined through a critical conversation focusing on the lives of academics whose backgrounds diverge from the middle class norm. The book provides a platform for the authors to discuss who they are as academics, their family backgrounds and what it means to be a professional in the academy. Burnell Reilly invites working class academics to write about their careers in higher education. This use of autoethnography is important as it generates a profound understanding of the lived experiences of individuals. The work is compelling and makes a significant contribution to our insights into the predicament of working class academics. The book therefore has the potential to improve efforts to encourage more inclusive approaches to supporting the recruitment and advancement of those from less traditional backgrounds. This inspirational book critically analyses and reflects upon the journeys of colleagues from a working class background into the perceived higher echelons of academia, using autoethnography as its methodology. The stories are honest and impactful as they describe the often not straight-forward routes into higher education. Instead, the routes meander through education, seizing opportunities as they arise. Many academics recognize the imposter syndrome and feelings of not-belonging in a certain arena, with notions of class, race, gender, sexuality, and identity firmly ingrained into the culture. However, the contributors to this book have demonstrated a tenacity and attitude towards learning that has led them to where they are now, warriors and champions of widening participation. This book will be useful to academics to reflect upon their own journeys but mainly to all who think that higher education and the world of academia is ‘not for them’, based upon their views and experiences of class, etc. Being the first in one’s family to attend higher education and then pursue a career in it may feel challenging and daunting and could be accompanied by a sense of loss (of identity) and betrayal (of background). This book acknowledges those feelings through its reflexive and often cathartic accounts while also demonstrating what can be achieved. As a postgraduate student, I have found this collection of autoethnographic studies to be an enlightening experience when considering my approach to my studies. The format of these autoethnographic findings has shown that there is another way possible, a way that allows a deeper examination of a subject that is so close to me and that allows me the scope to delve into it intensely. This collection has shown me the importance of personal power when discussing issues relevant to the self and how utilisation of that power can be cathartic while creating a deeper understanding from the perspective of the writer. This interesting compilation has been invaluable to me as I take my next steps along my educational path, giving a powerful insight into how others have used an auto ethnographical approach to critically examine a variety of subjects. The book has been able to show the scope of this method and its possible uses within my work and I am sure it will be a helpful starting point for other students who are considering the possible structure of their studies.