Class was the central focus of my research project investigating student experiences of imposter syndrome at Durham University. Unsurprisingly, after many controversies over classism (Askham, 2021) and a poor social inclusion ranking (Mohamed and Hodgson, 2022), the findings revealed the nitty, grittiness of the class-based issues that students face at the university. 

The findings indicated that state-educated, working-class and first-generation students feel out of place in the 'upper-class' culture of Durham University, especially when encountering elitism from other students. Elitism was found to be one of the most common issues at the university that triggers feelings of imposter syndrome. Considering the cultural image of Durham as a Hogwarts-like institution, with gowns, balls and old-cobbled buildings, it is not surprising that many individuals feel out of place in this environment, and other, more privileged, privately educated students may feel more 'at-home'. The University needs to address this issue and figure out a way to make underprivileged students more welcome. 

One of the most common suggestions from the roughly 300 respondents was to simply increase the diversity of the student population, with a particular focus on the disproportionate intake of privately educated students. This suggestion is not surprising, considering that Durham University has the highest privately educated student intake out of any other UK university (HESA, 2023). There seems to be little acknowledgement from the university on this front, which is surprising considering it often portrays itself to be an inclusive institution, but how inclusive can an institution be in which over a third of its students are selected from a small, privileged minority? 

But what else can be done about this harsh fact? How can we ensure students feel welcome at a university where class means so much? Respondents to the survey have a lot more suggestions, such as providing inductions to university life for state-educated students and those from backgrounds not typically associated with higher education, providing seminars to more privileged students on understanding class differences to tackle elitism, confronting institutional elitism in departments and the elitist behaviours of staff and lecturers, as well as trying to offset and overcome educational differences and privilege by running workshops that build up essential, foundational skills for academia, such as learning to read and write academic work, learning to cite information, etc. 

There is a lot for the university to do, and students have a seemingly infinite pool of potential policy changes to tackle feeling 'out of place' at the university. As one student put it, the university is defined and known by the 'Durham University Stereotype': privately educated, rich and well-spoken. Is this really the impression the university wants to give? How much longer can Durham University not acknowledge its class issues and ignore its poor cultural perception as an institution which tailors itself to the upper class?