Rise with your class, not out of your class: auto-ethnographic reflections on imposter syndrome and class conflict in higher education

Through auto-ethnographic reflections of her experiences as a working class, ‘first generation’, student at a Russell group university, Maclean situates her working-class imposter syndrome within an elite university as grounded in feelings of cultural inadequacy. This chapter suggests that a working-class habitus is structurally and interpersonally marked as an undesired deficit within a Russell group university, encouraging working-class students to adopt middle-class embodiments and cultural tastes to both fit in and be respected. Yet, this chapter argues that a working-class habitus can also be utilised as a resource for accomplishment within HE. This chapter concludes that a working-class habitus is not solely a site of dislocation in Russell group universities, but can be utilised to challenge the reproduction of a class-value cultural hierarchy.