Clint Harris began his doctoral studies in economics in 2014 with a focus on academic achievement, aiming mostly for high grades. Over time, however, he realized that academic success alone did not guarantee career advancement. Harris, who earned his PhD at Purdue University and now works as a non-tenure-track researcher at the University of Wisconsin, observed that peers who cultivated relationships with professors and engaged in networking often advanced more rapidly. These social skills, Harris noted, did not come naturally to him, in part because he was the first in his family to attend college and lacked the cultural familiarity and social capital common among students from more privileged backgrounds.

A recent study published in Econometrica by economists Anna Stansbury and Kyra Rodriguez supports Harris’s experience, revealing that first-generation college graduates face significant obstacles in securing tenure-track positions and achieving tenure at major research universities. According to their findings, being a first-generation scholar can be an even greater disadvantage than race or gender. The researchers attribute this to the limited social networks and cultural capital available to individuals whose parents have not earned college degrees. Such scholars may struggle with the nuanced social interactions and institutional norms that tend to favor those from more affluent or academically connected backgrounds.

The study highlights that success in elite academic careers depends not only on the quality of research but also on mastery of an often unspoken set of social skills and practices, sometimes referred to as the “hidden curriculum.” These include knowing how to present oneself in interviews, organizing conference panels, and leveraging informal interactions with influential faculty. Karen Kelsky, a former academic and department chair, has described these informal rules in her 2015 guide to navigating the academic job market, noting that these rituals primarily benefit those already familiar with upper-middle-class cultural norms.

Stansbury and Rodriguez’s research also suggests that students with parents who hold advanced degrees enjoy notable advantages, reinforcing a cycle of socioeconomic privilege. Children of parents with graduate degrees tend to have greater ease understanding and accessing academic and professional environments, even if their parents are not academics themselves. Those from working-class families often lack this insider knowledge and may feel uncomfortable seeking help, as exemplified by Harris’s upbringing in Warsaw, Indiana, where a cultural emphasis on self-reliance discouraged asking for assistance.

The study further indicates that class background has a substantial impact on academic career outcomes. While women who earn doctorates achieve tenure at rates comparable to men once research output is accounted for, and Black scholars face challenges distinct from class disadvantage, first-generation scholars uniquely suffer from both lower tenure rates and placement at less prestigious institutions. This “class ceiling” underscores enduring inequalities within academia, mirroring broader trends in elite professional fields where subjective evaluations of social capital and cultural fluency affect opportunities for advancement.