Alex Shukie

Shamelessly eavesdropping in a Manchester Airport café, I heard a man in his early 20s talking about his job as a social media influencer. Although he has a million followers and can demonstrate income from advertising revenue (and his clothing brand), he’s struggling to get a mortgage given the instability of the ‘profession’. The idea of making a living by commodifying your personal life seems bizarre me. But, ironically, were there parallels with what I was doing?

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The constant look of shock you get 

Being a working class academic for me means people being shocked when you tell them you’re a Dr, and not because they have never met a doctor before, but because YOU hold that title.  Someone who looks, talks, and dresses like you, lives where you live, has a PhD? Every time I tell someone they reply with “really?, “wow”, “you’re joking?” or something similar and my heart sinks a little. If that doesn’t tell you that we have an issue with class within higher education, then I am not sure what will. 

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