The Working-Class Scholar: More than an Academic Matter?

The concept of the ‘working-class academic’ has gained much ground since the publication in the 1980s of Ryan and Sackrey’s aptly titled ‘Strangers in Paradise’. Yet, the term remains in important ways something of an oxymoron, given that being an academic is more commonly viewed as an occupation (perhaps even profession) of the middle classes. Despite this, several networks and associations have been constituted which seek to advocate for working-class academics in universities. A common concern of these networks and associations, and indeed of their members, is that working-class academics can at times operate on the margins of academia owing to a (real or imposed) lack academic capital compared to non-working-class academics. As with any invocation of class, questions and issues abound regarding what constitutes a ‘working-class’ academic. While noting the difficulties in arriving at a clear notion of being working class, this chapter will be more specifically concerned with what it means to be a working-class academic. In addition, the chapter raises some concerns about how being a working-class academic is defined, particularly for the lack of real consideration given to the narrowness of the concept of the academic. On this basis, the chapter will offer an account of the working-class scholar as a more substantive construct than the working-class academic. Drawing on Boyer’s (1990) seminal work on the scholar and scholarship, the chapter will argue that the working-class scholar manifests in how scholars from working-class backgrounds understand, approach and enact the purpose of higher education in ways that combine research, teaching, learning and application and—in doing so—enable them to build service and solidarity in support of the working class and of working-class communities.