Working class academics, when did you first discover ‘academic’ was an actual job that you could potentially do? For me it was during 3rd year undergrad. Based on a lightbulb moment conversation with the person who encouraged me to apply for funding & do postgraduate studies.
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Replying to @DrJoGrady @o_guest
I'm pretty sure I couldn't sensibly be called working class now. I was when I left home at 16, though. I didn't know university was a realistic option until I got there aged 26. I am not sure that "academic" IS the job that most university faculty now do.
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Replying to @TomFarsides @DrJoGrady
Based on what you wrote and the spelling of sceptical in your bio, I am going to assume you're from the American continents and probably North American. Class is very different in the UK and there are deep cultural divisions that cannot be ignored regardless of salary or job.
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The OP is from the North of UK. There is very little in the UK you can do within your own life to truly "change" class. You can change your accent, I guess, but people will always know and treat you differently at some point.
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As a scientist, I think I only know socially one working class UK academic (met him during my PhD). And it's nice he has a permanent job, I am so proud of him. Class mobility in the UK is abysmal because of many things, including how we define it.
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The biggest thing I've noticed is the expectation that most people can just spend another 6 months or a year finishing off their PhD whilst not being paid and be fine financially
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My blood boils.
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I think class is a hard one to talk about; my Dad was a joiner - but am I still working class now? How relevant is it anyway relative to salary which I think has more of an impact on opportunities than a stricter definition of class these days.
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I went for an interview at Oxford in 2010 and I remember feeling so put off when another prospective applicant asked me which school I went to (because why on earth would he have heard of it?)
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I've heard really similar stories. I decided not to even apply to Oxbridge when I spoke on the phone to some Cypriots there and they freaked me out by saying "in my free time I play football" instead of talking about a social life deeper and with more meaningful interactions.
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A friend from the North in my BSc compsci (I went to uni at York) told me when she went to her Oxbridge interview somebody told her "oh we take people with accents too now!" 
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I didn't have an interview because my exam scores were high enough. On the whole, glad I went, but it was like living on another planet, from day 1.
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