Low socioeconomic status is an under‐recognised source of challenges in academia

Arbuckle, Kevin; Bethell, E. J.; Hawthorn, D. J.; Hunt, K.; Khera, Monil; Lewis, Z.; Mitchell, J.; Nicholl, Megan; Reynolds, L. A.

doi:10.1111/jzo.13250

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Low socioeconomic status is an under‐recognised source of challenges in academia

Kevin Arbuckle

, E. J. Bethell, D. J. Hawthorn, K. Hunt, Monil Khera, Z. Lewis, J. Mitchell, Megan Nicholl, L. A. Reynolds

Journal of Zoology, Volume: 325, Issue: 4, Pages: 267 - 275

Swansea University Authors: Kevin Arbuckle , Monil Khera, Megan Nicholl

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DOI (Published version): 10.1111/jzo.13250

Abstract

Barriers faced by underrepresented groups in academia have increasingly formed the basis of serious discussion, consideration, and policies, recently (in the UK) under the mantle of equality, diversity, and inclusivity (EDI). While such recognition has not solved the challenges encountered by, for i...

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Published in:	Journal of Zoology
ISSN:	0952-8369 1469-7998
Published:	Wiley 2025
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68575

first_indexed	2025-01-09T20:33:51Z
last_indexed	2025-06-18T04:53:39Z
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While such recognition has not solved the challenges encountered by, for instance, women and ethnic minorities, it has at least ensured that consideration of such issues is becoming a normal part of policy and practice. One underrepresented group in academia is low socioeconomic status (working class) backgrounds, a characteristic that intersects widely with other more commonly considered EDI groups. However, socioeconomic status is not a legally protected characteristic in the UK, which has resulted in it receiving less attention in terms of consideration of the barriers it imposes and possible mitigations needed. Moreover, unlike often more salient EDI characteristics such as gender and ethnicity, outward-facing cues of socioeconomic status are less visible at a glance, although they are often detectable in more subtle or indirect ways. Coupled with the attempts many working-class academics make to ‘mask’ cues of their background, this creates a situation whereby low socioeconomic status is a ‘hidden’ barrier that commonly remains unrecognised and unaddressed throughout much of academia. Here, we provide an overview of the challenges faced by working-class academic scientists based partly on the literature, which is currently limited, and partly from the experiences of our diverse working-class authorship team. 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spelling	2025-06-17T16:15:50.1989051 v2 68575 2024-12-16 Low socioeconomic status is an under‐recognised source of challenges in academia d1775d20b12e430869cc7be5d7d4a27e 0000-0002-9171-5874 Kevin Arbuckle Kevin Arbuckle true false a63ca0b621b2f2b8d19f13db3f86b57f Monil Khera Monil Khera true false 1c45599b593d52a0451c24b0375268b4 Megan Nicholl Megan Nicholl true false 2024-12-16 BGPS Barriers faced by underrepresented groups in academia have increasingly formed the basis of serious discussion, consideration, and policies, recently (in the UK) under the mantle of equality, diversity, and inclusivity (EDI). While such recognition has not solved the challenges encountered by, for instance, women and ethnic minorities, it has at least ensured that consideration of such issues is becoming a normal part of policy and practice. One underrepresented group in academia is low socioeconomic status (working class) backgrounds, a characteristic that intersects widely with other more commonly considered EDI groups. However, socioeconomic status is not a legally protected characteristic in the UK, which has resulted in it receiving less attention in terms of consideration of the barriers it imposes and possible mitigations needed. Moreover, unlike often more salient EDI characteristics such as gender and ethnicity, outward-facing cues of socioeconomic status are less visible at a glance, although they are often detectable in more subtle or indirect ways. Coupled with the attempts many working-class academics make to ‘mask’ cues of their background, this creates a situation whereby low socioeconomic status is a ‘hidden’ barrier that commonly remains unrecognised and unaddressed throughout much of academia. Here, we provide an overview of the challenges faced by working-class academic scientists based partly on the literature, which is currently limited, and partly from the experiences of our diverse working-class authorship team. In doing so, we hope to bring greater awareness of working-class backgrounds to the table in EDI discussions, and we provide suggestions for future research on and mitigation of the challenges faced by academic scientists from low socioeconomic status backgrounds. Journal Article Journal of Zoology 325 4 267 275 Wiley 0952-8369 1469-7998 equality, diversity, and inclusivity; social class; socioeconomic background; academia; research culture 1 4 2025 2025-04-01 10.1111/jzo.13250 Perspective COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Swansea University 2025-06-17T16:15:50.1989051 2024-12-16T11:23:42.9493143 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Kevin Arbuckle 0000-0002-9171-5874 1 E. J. Bethell 2 D. J. Hawthorn 3 K. Hunt 4 Monil Khera 5 Z. Lewis 6 J. Mitchell 7 Megan Nicholl 8 L. A. Reynolds 0000-0002-7152-3170 9 68575__33439__3314231b917b4122be5ae09e16c52032.pdf 68575.VoR.pdf 2025-01-30T13:19:25.7950683 Output 219886 application/pdf Version of Record true Copyright: 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title	Low socioeconomic status is an under‐recognised source of challenges in academia
spellingShingle	Low socioeconomic status is an under‐recognised source of challenges in academia Kevin Arbuckle Monil Khera Megan Nicholl
title_short	Low socioeconomic status is an under‐recognised source of challenges in academia
title_full	Low socioeconomic status is an under‐recognised source of challenges in academia
title_fullStr	Low socioeconomic status is an under‐recognised source of challenges in academia
title_full_unstemmed	Low socioeconomic status is an under‐recognised source of challenges in academia
title_sort	Low socioeconomic status is an under‐recognised source of challenges in academia
author_id_str_mv	d1775d20b12e430869cc7be5d7d4a27e a63ca0b621b2f2b8d19f13db3f86b57f 1c45599b593d52a0451c24b0375268b4
author_id_fullname_str_mv	d1775d20b12e430869cc7be5d7d4a27e_*_Kevin Arbuckle a63ca0b621b2f2b8d19f13db3f86b57f__Monil Khera 1c45599b593d52a0451c24b0375268b4_**_Megan Nicholl
author	Kevin Arbuckle Monil Khera Megan Nicholl
author2	Kevin Arbuckle E. J. Bethell D. J. Hawthorn K. Hunt Monil Khera Z. Lewis J. Mitchell Megan Nicholl L. A. Reynolds
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description	Barriers faced by underrepresented groups in academia have increasingly formed the basis of serious discussion, consideration, and policies, recently (in the UK) under the mantle of equality, diversity, and inclusivity (EDI). While such recognition has not solved the challenges encountered by, for instance, women and ethnic minorities, it has at least ensured that consideration of such issues is becoming a normal part of policy and practice. One underrepresented group in academia is low socioeconomic status (working class) backgrounds, a characteristic that intersects widely with other more commonly considered EDI groups. However, socioeconomic status is not a legally protected characteristic in the UK, which has resulted in it receiving less attention in terms of consideration of the barriers it imposes and possible mitigations needed. Moreover, unlike often more salient EDI characteristics such as gender and ethnicity, outward-facing cues of socioeconomic status are less visible at a glance, although they are often detectable in more subtle or indirect ways. Coupled with the attempts many working-class academics make to ‘mask’ cues of their background, this creates a situation whereby low socioeconomic status is a ‘hidden’ barrier that commonly remains unrecognised and unaddressed throughout much of academia. Here, we provide an overview of the challenges faced by working-class academic scientists based partly on the literature, which is currently limited, and partly from the experiences of our diverse working-class authorship team. In doing so, we hope to bring greater awareness of working-class backgrounds to the table in EDI discussions, and we provide suggestions for future research on and mitigation of the challenges faced by academic scientists from low socioeconomic status backgrounds.
published_date	2025-04-01T05:21:38Z
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Low socioeconomic status is an under‐recognised source of challenges in academia

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