Does going to university make you middle class?

[PrincessGraceKelly]

I feel a bit nervous about starting this discussion () as I know threads on social class can get a bit heated but I find it all fascinating from a sociological perspective.

When I was studying A-levels one of our tutors told the class that graduating from university makes you middle class.

Do you agree?

I don't think that going to university makes you a different social class per se, however I have found that going to university has changed me a lot, more than I expected it to. I grew up working class. We were on benefits, lived in a council house, entitled to free school meals, etc. I went to a secondary school where getting good grades was something to be embarrassed about and even considering revising for your GCSEs meant you were a geek. However I did revise and went on to university. I have been studying at university for the last five years. I did my undergraduate degree, followed by a master's and now a PhD. When I first started at university I found it very daunting and definitely experienced a bit of a culture shock. Nearly everyone in my halls of residence had been to private school and seemed to know each other already because of going to the same school or indirectly e.g. a friend of a friend. However I soon settled in and adjusted and my confidence grew. Now I never really think about it when with my peers.

I grew up on a housing estate with an RP accent. It wasn't great!
English is my 2nd language and I picked up the accent of my tutor, my school teachers and my 'learning English for children' vhs tapes. Over time I flattened my accent down to 'general Southern'

I can never decide what class I am as the Italian class divides are slightly different to the English ones. I think I grew up economically working class, but 'culturally' MC. The DC are growing up MC as DH and both have the stereptypical immigrant parents that stressed the importance of a good education.

I dont think I soumd posh Not sure how you'd even think I had implied that I do. But it appears to be how we are viewed by (some not all I imagine) Americans. I think because my accent is closer to that of the Royal family and to them that means 'posh'.

Not a comment on any one poster. Just a general observation. A lot of southerners think they speak with rp. They dont hear their voqels. I hear them.

I dont even know what RP is

Maybe in the 1960s. But since the 1990s/early 2000s when all the old college converted to universities and everyone and their aunt got a degree., not really.

I agree it’s a lot to do with accents especially if you’re English, Dh mysteriously lost his at Cambridge.🙄

@PrincessGraceKelly

Here's ''a calculator'' for your social class :

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22000973

@RitzSpy my best friends mum scrimped and saved and worked every hour she could to send her DC to private schools so they "would get private school accents" (I kid you not. That's what she told me). Best friend moved to Liverpool for uni and has been there ever since. She sounds like she was born in Liverpool. Her mum was not happy

You can be working class and educated.

I don't think it makes you middle class but, from my experience, if you are working class and want to be perceived as middle class (and many WC people don't) then it is difficult to achieve that without having gone to University.

That's what I've noticed anyway, from being the sole person from my family to attend University and how observing how people react to me and other family members, and how various conversations play out.

So, necessary but not sufficient, if you are WC wanting to be perceived as MC. If you were born MC going to University doesn't seem to make any difference to which class you're perceived
to be - and the assumptions about why you didn't go are different to those made about WC people.

@PorpentiaScamander accent does go a long way to suggesting your intelligence, trustworthiness and class. I don't think dh did it consciously - not that he'd admit it. His mother says when he came back (down) from Cambridge they used to spend a few days taking him down a peg or two! His life, outlook, politics, interests etc is very different to his sister's - it's intriguing, almost like they had a completely different upbringing.

I'm in Australia. I really, really don't get the class thing. You go to uni, you have a degree. Simple. No one looks at you any differently unless you fling it around and act like you're better than everyone else. Then you're a tosser. I suppose that's a kind of class.....

It used to be the other way round.

In the 40s, 50s and 60s, with some exceptions only middle class students went to university and they stayed middle class afterwards.

When the huge expansion of places with useless degrees and low entry qualifications happened, vast numbers of working class students attended. Most stayed working class.

Oh I know accents affect how people are perceived (see my earlier post re Americans and how they view a Northen friend and me). But they shouldn't really as they dont actually mean anything. Other than some baring on where you were raised I guess.
I've got another good friend who is incredibly posh. He sounds like Prince William. People quite often assume he's mega smart. He's not. I've got more GCSEs than him despite his expensive private education vs my local state comp one. He also lacks common sense, but is very knowledgeable about politics which I don't know a lot about.

I've got totally different values/beliefs/principles to pretty much all of my family. No idea why. I can't even blame it on uni as I never went.

Idk. I'm pretty sure my parents 'changed' class- they were definitely born working class, they would be regarded as (and see themselves as) middle class by just about everyone now. But neither went to uni!

No. Although you may have a good chance of mixing with people who are middle class depending on your career path. Many people go to Uni from all walks of life now. It was probably the case once upon a time.

No

And just about everyone in the country now goes to 'uni'

@PorpentiaScamander I think is usually the case intelligent people can sometimes lack common sense.

Oh I know accents affect how people are perceived (see my earlier post re Americans and how they view a Northen friend and me). But they shouldn't really as they dont actually mean anything. Agree 100 percent but people have their learned prejudice.

I think is usually the case intelligent people can sometimes lack common sense. I think it's the case that intelligence is varied and not easy to pin down to one strength.

Not any more. People that would never have got in are going as there are so many combinations of qualifications you can use. I’d be hard pushed to know anyone who hasn’t gone recently. And that’s not a good thing.

My parents are from N ireland and if you asked them which class they were - they wouldn't have a clue where to start - it's a British thing, a particular type of snobbishness. However I believe snobbishness exists everywhere.

I think is usually the case intelligent people can sometimes lack common sense.

Usually or sometimes?

@Iwalkinmyclothing this was not a bad remark to anybody on here. It’s just something I’ve noticed and I’ve also heard other people (strangers) say this too. For example someone may come across as ditsy but in actual fact they are quite intelligent.

Nobody has it all everybody has different abilities. It’s merely my own observation Im not sure why your confused it wasn’t an insult towards anyone.

No, I really did want clarification: is this usually the case or sometimes the case? I am confused because it does not make much sense to say "usually x sometimes happens". Which is it?