Just another Brick in the Wall?
A Personal Account of Navigating University as a Working Class Student, and How We Can All Improve the Experiences of this Marginalised Group.
For me, achieving outstanding A-Level grades and obtaining a place in any university, let alone an elite, predominantly middle-upper class university was easily comparable to living a displaced dream. A progression route not commonly associated with working-class teenagers from Northern industrial towns and cities, I knew my background would vary slightly from that of my peers, in more ways than one. Despite having envisioned this route for myself many years ago, and even with the constant support of my mam, I could often feel the apprehensiveness of other family members and friends. However upon arriving as an eager, overwhelmed Fresher and beginning the crazy journey of finding my feet in such a novel environment, I found that certain elements of university life were not inclusive of working-class students, and that I faced issues that my middle-class peers simply didn’t. From challenging the multiple misconceptions of other students to the anxiety of juggling my finances and saving money, and feeling intense waves of imposter syndrome in many of the alien environments I became immersed into, my university experience was in part defined by the circumstances I had originated from.
Working class students are generally entitled to more student loan, yet we face not only the prospect of over £50,000 worth of debt once we graduate, but belittlement and probing into our circumstances by those who believe a working-class student’s loan entitlement should be applied to all students irrespective of how much money is being deposited into their bank from back home. We are subjected to witnessing university societies openly and unashamedly mock the people and places from which we originated, whether it be through hosting a ‘chav’ themed social, being told we sound ‘too common’, or just generally having our accents imitated to the point of changing ourselves, the way we look or the way we sound, in order to fit into a toxic culture we can never truly be a part of. Certain moments stand out in particular of times where I have wanted nothing more than to return home and tell everyone who was against me progressing into higher education that they were right. One such incident was applying to rent the house I’m currently living in, and being told by the letting agency that I need a guarantor earning £25,000 a year or more- something most students at my university would not bat an eyelid to, yet I wasted tireless hours upsetting myself and my family about. Another time, a student that I was put into a group project with spent five minutes berating state schools, comparing that 93% of the population who attend such schools to ‘animals’. Yet, when the privately educated are so consistently overrepresented within Russell Group institutions- this mindset of superiority is unsurprisingly common.
Whilst most working class students could provide examples of times they had been unfairly disadvantaged whilst at university, it would serve no purpose unless change was to happen in order to improve what is currently quite a dire situation for those originating from less fortunate economic backgrounds. With the removal of grants, increases in tuition fees and greater loan repayments all hitting the working classes hardest, reforming the loan system at a state level would be the most obvious answer. However, smaller changes in both individual attitudes (such as not assuming your friend can afford an overpriced club night or splitting the cost of an expensive birthday gift) and social attitudes (for example, the belief held by many middle class students that working classes receive maximum loan because their parents didn’t work ‘as hard’) would contribute to ensuring that university life is a welcoming, rather than exclusionary or hostile, environment to all that wish to enter into it.
As President of the Feminist Society and Women’s Liberation Coordinator, I have seen first hand how within intricately designed attempts to represent the marginalised, class remains the unspoken if not actively neglected elephant in the room. In attempts to provide a university that represents a significant portion of its student body, there are many steps that can be taken to welcome this elephant, to reduce the stigma surrounding its existence and active presence. Lobbying your student union for working class representation, a group commonly swept under the rug in the eagerness of SU’s to have a diversity of groups represented, would be an effective starting point. Hosting events relating to working-class history, attempting to start a network of working-class students on campus, challenging negative stereotypes that are often let slide, being an ally to the struggles of those around you if those struggles are not affecting you directly. There is an inexhaustible variety of avenues that could be and should be taken in order to combat the isolation and stigmatisation of one of the nation’s most historically marginalised groups. There is so much to be done, and committing to even one small action could have the ability to completely transform the experiences of those around you.
Catheryne Fairbairn
