In this chapter, the theoretical approach of the analysis is constructed starting from the definition of intersectionality, that—rooted in gender and feminist studies—is a critical framework particularly useful for analyzing the experiences of women in academia, as it allows to highlight the multiple connections between class, gender, and race differences, with, on the one hand, the subjective experience of discrimination, and, on the other hand, the broader processes of racism, classism, and sexism. The impact of social class on academic careers’ trajectories and outcome is taken into account, building upon Bourdieu (Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (pp. 241–258). Greenwood Press, 1986), and declined according to the different forms of capital class belonging entails: economic, social and cultural. Drawing on this literature, the relationship between familiar economic and cultural capital and academic careers is reconstructed, underlining the role of parental education in shaping educational outcomes. Socio-economic background is also linked to students’ international mobility, and to the possibility of building valuable networks and relationships, that is, social capital. The latter is also shaped by family networks, which may provide early career researchers both with informal mentorships and forms of nepotism. Family networks are a major source of social capital in the MENA region, associated with the concept of wasta, which has both a mediation and an intercessory value. In the experience of women, the use of wasta is linked to male family members’ connections, showing that women in the Arab region face not only gender, but also class barriers, as without the endorsement of influential male relatives, they often struggle to access key resources and career opportunities.