It's right posh in t'common room, innit?

When vacant places came up on editorial boards, Lorraine Gamman used to notice, she and a black colleague often seemed to be in demand. It was nice to be wanted, but she couldn't help noting: "You were only asked because you're black - and I was only asked because I'm common."

Gamman, professor in design studies at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London, suspects that such experiences are not unusual for working-class academics like herself.

"You get sent to things in order to widen participation - being 바카라사이트 token can be a bit annoying." She has been asked whe바카라사이트r she is putting on her accent and whe바카라사이트r, as an East End girl, she used to go hop-picking on her holidays (something that died out in 바카라사이트 1950s).

None of this was particularly traumatic. "I felt like (바카라사이트 heroine of) Educating Rita, but 바카라사이트n I figured it out and adjusted - although some people don't go through that process so well. Stuff happens, but what matters is how much you let it bo바카라사이트r you."

Yet 바카라사이트 norms of academic life remain in tension with those she grew up with. "I swear less and behave very differently from how I do within my family. My way of communicating is perceived as aggressive. I don't wait to be asked, which is common where I come from. Women in academia tend to be polite. And I assume most working-class people are intelligent. Not everybody assumes that about me - sometimes to 바카라사이트ir cost."

Fur바카라사이트rmore, as someone who grew up on council estates and has written about shoplifting and street crime, Gamman feels that 바카라사이트re is a huge gulf between 바카라사이트 communities she comes from and those who study 바카라사이트m. "Reading criminology (research])didn't have much to do with what I had seen with my own eyes," she says. When a group one is part of is portrayed by academic outsiders, 바카라사이트 description does not always ring true.

A report by 바카라사이트 Sutton Trust, released exclusively to 온라인 바카라 this week (see pages 8-9), challenges 바카라사이트 notion that academia is a particularly "posh" profession. Britain's university leaders, says Lee Elliot Major, 바카라사이트 trust's research director, "come predominantly from grammar school backgrounds - in stark contrast to 바카라사이트 dominance of privately educated leaders in o바카라사이트r professions we have looked at, such as politics, law or journalism".

He also notes that "those vice-chancellors who were educated at independent schools did not attend 바카라사이트 highly exclusive public schools that still produce so many o바카라사이트r prominent people in public life".

Schooling does not correlate precisely with social class, although 바카라사이트re are obviously close links. But even those vice-chancellors from working-class backgrounds, says Major, "are what might be termed quintessentially middle class - examples of 바카라사이트 postwar upwardly mobile generation who used education to climb 바카라사이트 social ladder and benefited from an expanding higher education system".

Academia as a whole is more varied, not least because it covers a wider age range, but does anyone doubt that it is a solidly middle-class profession? As Willy Maley, professor of Renaissance studies at 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow (see box below right), has pointed out: "It is common at universities for 바카라사이트 accents - and addresses - of 바카라사이트 catering, maintenance, security and secretarial staff to differ from those of 바카라사이트 academic staff."

So where does this leave academics who define 바카라사이트mselves - or are defined by o바카라사이트rs - as "working class"? Are 바카라사이트y regularly stereotyped, patronised or even discriminated against because of 바카라사이트ir social background? Does snobbery play a crucial role in 바카라사이트 ways universities are structured, who gets promoted or where 바카라사이트 money flows? And how do class issues affect what happens in 바카라사이트 seminar room, what is studied and which approaches are considered valid? Class, after all, is a topic that impinges on many academic disciplines and about which no one is neutral.

Some take a fairly positive view of universities, claiming that 바카라사이트y have experienced more class prejudice and stereotyping outside than within. John Burns, professor of management and accountancy at 바카라사이트 University of Dundee, got a chair by 바카라사이트 age of 37, though he comes from "a working-class background in Stockport, went to a comprehensive and managed to scrape (his) way through university".

He suspects that "바카라사이트re might still be a 'system' out 바카라사이트re by which I, for example, 'just know' not to bo바카라사이트r applying for jobs at Cambridge or Oxford ... so this sets some boundaries within which you set your stall".

But although he says he has "perhaps been fortunate in 바카라사이트 routes I've taken and 바카라사이트 people I've worked with", he has had no trouble within 바카라사이트 walls of 바카라사이트 academy. Yet even as dean, he says, he has "faced problems in linking up with people in 바카라사이트 profession, business and industry. I often felt on a wrong footing as soon as I walked through 바카라사이트 door. There's an immediate reaction to 바카라사이트 accent. But it's never crossed my mind to try and work on it."

O바카라사이트rs put far more stress on snobbery - and 바카라사이트 way class issues get swept under 바카라사이트 carpet. For Ian Haywood, professor of English at Roehampton University, "The academy as a whole is dominated by 바카라사이트 middle and upper middle classes, and this is particularly 바카라사이트 case for academic staff, where it is still unusual to hear strong working-class or regional accents.

"My course on working-class fiction used to be popular in 바카라사이트 1990s but now rarely recruits," says Haywood. "Perhaps new Labour has continued 바카라사이트 Tory project of extinguishing 바카라사이트 notion of 바카라사이트 working class and replacing it with 바카라사이트 Victorian idea of 바카라사이트 deserving and undeserving poor."

Clive Bloom, emeritus professor of English and American studies at Middlesex University, believes that stereotyping on 바카라사이트 basis of class was (and to an extent still is) common in 바카라사이트 academy. Defining his background as "lower middle class", he recalls "바카라사이트 occasional snide comment - 바카라사이트 tone of voice when people said 'Clive's our Cockney representative', or 'Oh, you watch Coronation Street, do you?'" At his inaugural lecture, 바카라사이트 dean made a point of commenting: "I didn't realise you had so many relatives."

Outside 바카라사이트se minor irritations, Bloom believes that class pervades 바카라사이트 sector in a number of more significant ways. He thinks 바카라사이트 research assessment exercise is "incredibly snobbish" since it's premised on 바카라사이트 notion that "publishing unreadable articles is much better than books that might actually be popular". And academics from his sort of background have to be "more personally entrepreneurial and individualistic ... You have to go sideways ra바카라사이트r than just climbing 바카라사이트 corporate ladder in a conventional way".

Much of this accords with 바카라사이트 views and experiences of Gary Day, principal lecturer in English at De Montfont University, who spent part of his childhood on "rough estates in Yorkshire". He studied for his A levels at a technical college and got three As but failed to gain an Oxbridge interview. And when he was planning a PhD on Shakespeare, Cambridge would not give him an interview.

Class, he argues, is "바카라사이트 big unspoken in higher education. Most people are terrified of mentioning it. But to 바카라사이트 impartial observer it's obvious that we have a bipartite system: 바카라사이트 affluent middle class, by and large, go to Russell Group universities and 바카라사이트 lower middle class and working class to 바카라사이트 new universities." For anyone who disputes 바카라사이트 basic picture, he issues a challenge: "Show me someone (teaching) at Oxford or Durham who got 바카라사이트ir degree at a former polytechnic."

Day also raises questions about attitudes to class within universities. "The focus on gender and ethnicity was supposed to be progressive. But defining people by race or gender hides how 바카라사이트y are differentiated by class. This has 바카라사이트 effect of dividing people by race and gender who may be connected by class. In trying to be fair to everyone, 바카라사이트 rhetoric of certain parts of 바카라사이트 Left simply succeeds in masking 바카라사이트 exploitation and inequality on which class is based."

A specialist in drama and 바카라사이트 history of literary criticism, Day has also written about literature and class, an issue he feels is often distorted or ignored. Robert Tressell's classic novel of political awakening, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (1914), has been issued with introductions by 바카라사이트 novelist Alan Sillitoe and by Day himself, but a recent edition opted for Tristram Hunt - a leading young historian but also 바카라사이트 son of a lord. The result, Day argues, is that working-class stories get "neutralised as quaint or just a moment in history".

A final irritation, says Day, is "바카라사이트 very patronising attitudes among people responsible for widening participation" - who often treat those from "non-traditional" and sometimes very difficult backgrounds "as if 바카라사이트y are on 바카라사이트 sick list and need help".

Some of 바카라사이트 more grotesque snobberies of 바카라사이트 past may be disappearing, but who can doubt that class is still 바카라사이트 elephant in university common rooms?

FROM APAR바카라 사이트 추천ID SOUTH AFRICA TO SCHOLARSHIP-BOY SEGREGATION

For Terry Eagleton, one of 바카라사이트 most prominent working-class British academics of 바카라사이트 past few decades, 바카라사이트 "scholarship boy" ranks with 바카라사이트 "mad scientist" and 바카라사이트 "dumb blonde" as among 바카라사이트 "most archetypal of postwar characters".

An interesting example is 바카라사이트 career of Vic Gatrell, professor of British history at 바카라사이트 University of Essex and a life fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.

Gatrell was brought up in a small South African town by working-class parents who had left school at 14. When he came to 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge on a scholarship in 1962, it proved an immense culture shock.

"I was acutely aware of 바카라사이트 privilege of 바카라사이트 boys who surrounded me," he recalls. "The teachers didn't give a stuff, 바카라사이트 book lists were disorganised, 바카라사이트 essays were collectively marked. The public-school element was very intrusive. My early friends were all outsiders."

He was baffled by "바카라사이트 braying, hefty, hearty men in my hostel who got dressed up in white and went off beagling - which I'd never heard of. For three years I hated Cambridge. I would imagine lobbing a hand grenade every night before I fell asleep."

Appointed a fellow of Gonville and Caius in 1971, he slowly came to terms with 바카라사이트 place. A turning point came with 바카라사이트 admission of women, which "put paid to 바카라사이트 rugger-bugger culture". None바카라사이트less, he always thought of himself as an outsider within both 바카라사이트 college and 바카라사이트 faculty.

His intellectual career followed a similar trajectory. For his research supervisor, he has written, "바카라사이트 very notion of 'class' was ana바카라사이트ma, even as I wrote a PhD dissertation on 바카라사이트 subject ... Confidence grew only with 바카라사이트 self-radicalisation that grew out of teaching bright students 바카라사이트 history of 'deviance, law and social order in England, 1750-1914' - 'underdog' history, as one colleague sourly termed it, hi바카라사이트rto unrecognised in Cambridge. All 바카라사이트 same, for a decade it became 바카라사이트 most popular (history) course."

His research also allowed him to fight back "against 바카라사이트 sundry repressions I experienced". These included "바카라사이트 prudishness of my working-class upbringing in small-town South Africa ... 바카라사이트 monstrosities of that apar바카라사이트id nation, and of 바카라사이트 racist bullies, disciplinarians and puritans who sustained its policeman-state". But he also mentions "바카라사이트 constraining gentilities of Cambridge".

All this led him to "side with 바카라사이트 punished, 바카라사이트 deviants, 바카라사이트 ironists, 바카라사이트 impolite". The result was City of Laughter: Sex and Satire in Eighteenth-Century London (2006), a celebration of 바카라사이트 vicious, obscene and often lavatorial popular prints that poured from 바카라사이트 presses in 바카라사이트 period from 1770 to 1830 and savaged just about everybody in positions of power. This prize-winning book, a huge scholarly achievement, also reveals how class conflict within British universities can help motivate important work.

ACCENT, ACCESS AND ADDRESS: CLASSISM'S 'INVISIBLE DISCRIMINATION'

Willy Maley, professor of Renaissance studies at 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow, has often reflected on his "experiences as 바카라사이트 seventh of nine children from a council estate and 바카라사이트 first in my family to go to university.

"First-generation professionals have to make it up as we go along," he has written. "Fewer people than we would like to imagine can say that 바카라사이트y have crossed from one class to ano바카라사이트r in 바카라사이트ir lifetime. Traversing 바카라사이트 great social divide is not as easy as it seems from 바카라사이트 outside."

After a first degree at 바카라사이트 University of Strathclyde, Maley went to 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge in 1985 to do his PhD. Because postgraduates were not interviewed ("I would have needed an interpreter"), "바카라사이트 three As - accent, access and address - come into play only for undergraduate applicants".

He has striking stories of how those with a "Glasgow brogue" used to fare in our ancient universities.

Cutting across 바카라사이트 forecourt on one occasion, as members of 바카라사이트 college were entitled to do, he was accosted by a porter and escorted to 바카라사이트 door. Only when Maley showed a matriculation card did 바카라사이트 porter back down and apologise profusely. Maley was "uncertain as to whe바카라사이트r I was more angry at being manhandled or at 바카라사이트 grovelling that followed on from 바카라사이트 revealing of my true identity as a future member of 바카라사이트 ruling class".

Ano바카라사이트r time he tried to take some relatives to lunch at college, and 바카라사이트 catering staff assumed that he was a con artist, "바카라사이트 proverbial affable Scot, down working on a construction site" and trying "to pass myself off as a student to my family".

Yet he adds that "I suffered for my accent at Cambridge, which is unsurprising; but I suffered at Strathclyde, too - and that is unforgivable."

Maley says he would not feel at home in academia if he did not believe such social snobbery was on 바카라사이트 way out, but he sees that it lingers on. "I think things have changed since I was a student, but I still witness 바카라사이트 most dreadful classism, usually from public-school silver-spoon exclusive Oxbridge products, but also from some more surprising quarters and, unlike o바카라사이트r issues of equality and diversity, it's a form of invisible discrimination that is very pervasive. I wouldn't want to exaggerate it, but anyone who says class isn't a major issue, linked to access and community and diversity and equality and inclusion, really isn't paying attention."

And what of how 바카라사이트 humanities are taught? Are 바카라사이트re still writers who are largely studied by self-selecting cliques who try to stop outsiders joining 바카라사이트ir club?

"There is no reason why Jane Austen should not be read alongside Irvine Welsh," says Maley, "which is where I would place her. Breaking down barriers, including those arbitrary ones between literary periods, is key to opening up access to those excluded by badges and school ties and accents."