# Academia's class problem

## TL;DR

This paper discusses how universities lack social class diversity and argues why this is important for fairness and knowledge.

## Contribution

The paper introduces four goals for increasing class diversity in academia and highlights its benefits for knowledge.

## Key findings

- Universities are dominated by people from middle and upper-middle-class backgrounds.
- Increasing class diversity can improve fairness and the quality of knowledge.
- The paper proposes four specific goals for change in academia.

## 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.