AUTHOR=Spiegel Thomas J. 

TITLE=Academia's class problem

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/research-metrics-and-analytics/articles/10.3389/frma.2025.1566023

DOI=10.3389/frma.2025.1566023

ISSN=2504-0537

ABSTRACT=The university has a problem with social class. Actually, it has two problems with class. The first one is that the university as an institution is still largely impervious to people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. In particular, people with middle and upper-middle-class backgrounds are overrepresented especially in very desirable tenured positions. This article offers a brief assessment of the problem, argues that more class diversity in academia is not only a matter of justice, but can also be epistemically beneficial, and finally formulates four desiderata for change.