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The Class Ceiling

The Class Ceiling: Laurie Taylor examines barriers to the elite professions. Does it still pay to be privileged?

The Class Ceiling: Why it pays to be privileged. Drawing on four in-depth case studies – acting, accountancy, architecture and television – Sam Friedman, Associate Professor in Sociology at the LSE, argues that the ‘class ceiling’ in the elite professions can only be partially attributed to conventional measures of ‘merit’. Instead, he suggests that more powerful drivers include the misrecognition of classed self-presentation as ‘talent’ and the affordances of the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’. He's joined by Louise Ashley, Senior Lecturer in Organization Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London and Anna Williams, Director of Research, Advocacy and Communications at the Sutton Trust.

Producer: Jayne Egerton

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Mon 27 Apr 2020 00:15

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READING LIST

Sam Friedman and Daniel Laurison, The Class Ceiling - Why it Pays to be Privileged, (Policy Press, 2019)

Broadcasts

  • Wed 30 Jan 2019 16:00
  • Mon 4 Feb 2019 00:15
  • Mon 27 Apr 2020 00:15

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