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I took part in an interesting panel discussion (‘ImperialAction: Let's Talk Social Mobility’) last night for the @imperialcollege Working Class and First-Generation Network. Super-interesting to hear about what challenges remain and which have changed over the decades.
For example, grants historically seemed to make it somewhat easier and more appealing for those from low-income families to access higher-education, although societal barriers (the so-called Educating Rita effect) remained...
Interesting discussions around whether people can educated themselves out of the socio-economic status into which they were born, or whether bias and discrimination against them will still remains because of how they act, talk, dress, etc.
N.B. some folks *did* think this was possible...although I and others are more sceptical, given academia (and society) clearly isn’t the equitable sunlit uplands that they should be for people from coming from lower socio-economic backgrounds...
We also talked about so-called “drawbridge-pullers”; i.e. those who, having experienced upward social mobility, seek to punish those who have not. The people who claim that, “*those* people just need to WORK HARDER...and should be offered no support to concessions”...
In my mind, these people are deeply, deeply problematic, given impede the positive progress of people they could be obviously allies for...
I used the @imperialcollege MSc admissions fee issue as a case study for when institutions have failed in their mission to make access to higher education more equitable. Hearing ex-working class deans fail to understand the present challenges faced by current folks is shit...
Ping @BMatB 
Intersectionality was discussed too, in terms of how disability, gender, race, ethnicity, etc, can compound the negative effects of being from a lower socio-economic when trying to navigate parts of the higher education system...
Anyway, I’m not sure where this thread is going, but it was a fun evening, so thanks very much to the organisers...some of which are on Twitter!
P.S. one thing that was expressed was a concern that young working-class people were “risk averse”...in that they weren’t prepared to take on the financial risk to educate themselves. You can imagine my response to that...
This comment came from an Admissions Tutor, no less...
Oh, and P.P.S, an ex-colleague of mine recounted when they were admissions tutor and they (rightly) tasked with increasing the intake of working class students to a course that was 70%(!!!!) private school students...
They made the point that the problem was applicants; there simply weren’t many at all. FYI: this university was Bristol...
Anyway, they said that they wished schools in socio-economically deprived areas would help, by ringing universities to flag talented students and/or ask for guidance around application and admission...
I and others made the point that many schools, and especially those schools, have incredibly stressed resources. The schools that often *do* have the resources are...*drum roll*...private schools...
I’ve even heard the parents of prospective students ringing-up universities and lobbying on behalf of their kids.
