A series of interviews was conducted for the University’s Centenary, involving a number of past and present students and staff who all come from working-class backgrounds. They were interviewed by a PhD student, Sharla Attla, who discussed with them how their experiences at the University of Reading had been shaped by their working-class upbringings. In this section, we will be looking at a number of different areas that were brought up by many of the interviewed students. It will focus on their home life, through to what their life was like after University, told through research and a selection of quotes.
-
Home Life
Before students come to university, they have their whole upbringing at home, so it is important to include this when looking at the impact and influence of working-class experiences at the university. Many of these students have grown up with the idea that they are going to finish their mandatory schooling and then go into work where they will stay, and they will pass their class to their children, and the cycle continues. This idea had been perpetuated by many around them, including family, teachers, peers, and themselves.
“I was the daughter of an east London dockworker and that’s all I’d ever be.”
– an interviewee recalled being told by a maths teacher.
“None of my family had really been to university. It was kind of a new thing, really, in our family.”
– an interviewee explained about their relationship with the idea of university.
There were many different ways that people phrased it and discussed their feelings around the idea that they were expected not to attempt anything other than a humble or ‘lower-class job’. Some people were understanding of what they had and what was expected of them, but wanted more opportunities.
“There wasn’t much guidance about going to university, but we all made it up from what previous people had said. It was normal for some people to leave school after their O levels in those days.”
Whereas there were others who felt a level of anger or resentment at the fact that it was expected that they wouldn’t do anything beyond finish school to go into the workforce without aiming for anything higher.
“I have very strong memories of my school years, which were good, but… I was just being trained to get a job.”
The other main aspect that people recalled was the need to change themselves, or the steadfast desire not to. Whether it was accents, stories of their youth, or the way they held themselves, there was an element that almost all the interviewees felt they needed to change about themselves.
“It’s an assumption because I come from Surrey. I have quite a posh Southern accent, and people make assumptions that I’m upper-middle class.”
– an interviewee talking about the feeling that his working-class background was denied because of his accent.
“I toned my accent down and some of the stories about my youth… some of the things we experienced at school and things like that”
– an interviewee explaining that they changed or left out parts of their personality.
“I’ve always had an east end; east London accent, and I’ve no intention of changing that.”
– an interviewee stating how they have worked hard not to change themselves, but they have still softened their accent since then. -
Peers
Throughout many of the interviews, there was a discussion about peers. This topic was approached from various angles, with many people talking about how they felt different to their peers, either through their backgrounds, their knowledge, or simply feeling like they didn’t quite fit in. A significant number of the people going to university came from private schools or had some prior experience with higher education, which meant that they seemed to manage the transition to university better than a large number of the people interviewed.
“I think they were much more ready for how it might be here.”
– an interviewee talking about the privately educated people they were in classes with.
“I don’t feel inferior… but I know that we come from different worlds and therefore the way we look at some things will be very different.”
– an interviewee explaining the difference in views to their peers who went to private school or came from money.
We found a significant divide among the different people interviewed on whether it was an issue throughout their time in university that they felt so different from their peers, or whether it was a refreshing change to be around people different from those they were used to. The people who discussed how their differences weren’t much of a hindrance to their university experience mainly focused on enjoying the differences, either because they felt that everyone was different or because it was an enjoyable experience.
“I was always aware [my accent] was different, but I was surrounded by people of all shapes, sizes and races, so everybody around me had an accent.”
However, others felt that they were only comfortable around the sort of people they had grown up with or who had similar life experiences to them – often other working-class people – because they could relate and feel at ease with them, rather than pretending to be someone they weren’t.
“I remember socially fitting in more with those people in the workplace environment, although some of them were students as well. I felt more at home there … they were more like people I’d known at school.”
Overall, throughout most of the interviews, the interviewees felt a level of disconnect between themselves and other students due to their background. Some people didn’t mind it, some people found it annoying, and some people felt that the disconnect was self-inflicted. However, all of them felt different in some way or another from their peers.
“Academic discussions and the realities of what class is, are very different. Talking to middle-class people who try to talk about the working-class as if they know what it means, I find it quite patronising.”
– an interviewee regarding the discussions they had about class in lectures compared to the experience and their peers not understanding the impact and reality.
“I don't remember anyone particularly making me feel uncomfortable about it or anything like that. Yeah. I think it was me that had the issues with it if anything”
– an interviewee talking about how they felt different to their peers, but not due to any negative behaviours and instead just a feeling of being different.
“I might be in the minority, but I am not invisible.”
– an interviewee explaining that during their post-grad, they became more open about their background despite knowing how they were different from those around them. -
Finances
While finances are an important aspect of working-class experiences, especially within higher education, there was not much discussion of this topic within the interviews. This is likely because we already know that there are going to be financial struggles that come with being someone from a working-class background, so the discussion focused mainly on the impact of work on their uni life and the pressure that comes with such a large financial decision, such as going to University.
“I think my parents would have been quite willing to offer a safety net. I didn’t particularly want to ask them for one… I think I was like, I’ve made the choice. I’m coming. It’s kind of an on me sort of thing.”
– an interviewee talking about the financial safety net from their parents that they didn’t necessarily get.
The main aspect that many people talked about was the way they would need to work, sometimes even full-time, in order to have enough money to afford their education.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do an unpaid internship. Absolutely not, because I wouldn’t have had either time to then have a second job to support that internship, and because I do not have money from my parents”.
The money issue then became extremely prevalent in postgraduate education, as there was no longer national government funding to support master's and PhD students. Consequently, they had to turn to competitive scholarships and take time out to work in order to save enough money.
“It was really only in the PhD where it became solidified in terms of class, who was and who wasn’t allowed into academia.”
More on the financial costs of higher education, especially postgraduate, can also be found in the staff experiences section, as this was not only an issue mentioned by students but also by a large majority of the interviewees.
“University might not be an equaliser, because it isn’t, but it is a place where there is a lot of help and resources available.”
– an interviewee explaining what they tell new students who are in similar situations to encourage them to get into higher education.
-
Uni Life
As this section covers the student experiences shared in the interviews we were given, the life and experiences of these working-class individuals, and focuses on the university itself. Within the group, there is a range of experiences: some people found university a new and exciting place to escape to, while others found it restrictive and closed off. This broad spectrum of experiences is still only a small number of interviews out of thousands of working-class individuals who go into higher education every year. All of them will have different experiences and opinions on what university was like.
“I took a module on communism, so you’d think [class] would have come up there. But no, it never really came up… I think it’s still quite a taboo thing to talk about.”
– an interviewee talking about the lack of discussion around class at university.
“I enjoyed learning, but didn’t know how to learn at a university. I had absolutely no idea. You know, I didn’t know how to reference. I didn’t know how to use a reference library. I had never had the opportunity.”
– an interviewee explaining the lack of university-level education skills they had, especially compared to their peers.
“I’ve spent like, four years, literally in some cases, banging on doors for opportunities and for people to let me in and for me to prove myself… I’ve been told you’re not the right fit or you don’t have the right tone or, you don’t know the right people.”
– an interviewee expressing how higher education still feels closed off for working-class people.
The main difference between students was what it provided for them and what stress it gave them in return as to whether that meant that it was enjoyable or not. It was also to an extent about what the staff such as teachers and those in charge of the university higher up wanted the students to be doing. Some of the individuals felt that once they were at university it was difficult to progress any further and that there was a severe lack of support, especially for working-class students.
“There were quite a lot of words and terminology that I particularly had never really come across”
However, others felt that it allowed them to have time away from the life they had known before and had more opportunities available to them.
“I had freedom in my time at the university.”
There was a lot of discussion overall about asking for help, support, and belief in their skills, where they either found themselves struggling to ask for help or felt that those they were asking weren’t taking them seriously. However, there were many positives, as well as the tough times some students faced due to their socio-economic background. People explained that just being asked about it and having the university open up about working-class students was important and reassuring.
“[M]y undergraduate graduation was definitely one of the happiest days of my life, more of an achievement than the PhD”
– an interviewee explaining how important their degrees have been and how completing them was a highlight.
“I would never ask for help. I would never ask my tutors to read essays or drafts. I would never have meetings with my supervisors because it felt like I had to do all the work.”
– an interviewee discussing the added pressure to succeed alone as a working-class student.
“He left home to go to university for a better life. But it’s not what he expected. It’s not what he thought it would be like, but he also feels like he can’t go back home because he left. And that really resonated with me.”
– an interviewee talking about a TV show where a student went to university and how they felt it represented their experience of university. -
Post Uni
The final focus of this section will look at the experiences and thoughts that the students discussed surrounding life after their time as students at the University of Reading. As university is often seen as a stepping stone into academia or a higher-paying workforce, looking at how working-class individuals experience it and reminisce about their time there is important.
“I had a very positive experience [of university]. But what it did do is teach me, you know, I’m now very aware of where I come from.”
– an interviewee talking about what they took away from their experience with peers' behaviour around their class.
The main point that past students brought up in their interviews regarding their lives after their university education was the awareness it gave them of their own class. They discuss how their class is something they carry with them even after university, which often helps ease class mobility. One way this came across was that, despite the idea that university is supposed to even out the playing field a bit, especially for working-class students, it is still full of barriers.
“The whole system of academia really is built against working-class people because it’s like, ok, go do the doctorate, great, good for you to build the CV, but you can’t come in. The door’s still shut.”
Whereas the other argument was that, while class stays with people in how they act and perceive the world, it doesn’t necessarily carry over into their status after university.
“I’m much more aware of [my roots] now, but that is also because I’ve moved… I now am a woman who has a PhD. I’m now a woman who, because of that, has a well-respected job. Those things usually come with a different class.”
While many of the interviewees didn’t touch much on this, whether that was because they were currently students or it didn’t come up in conversation, there was a strong mix of positive and not-so-positive views on it. The overall conclusion seemed to be that while university does help with social manoeuvrability, it doesn’t negate the experiences of being working-class.
“I think it’s so important to talk about class because if you don’t have these people in the universities, nobody aspires to be like them.”
– an interviewee talking about how they try to speak out about being someone who has gone to university from a working-class background to help inspire others.