The Educated Underclass

We live in a world with too many graduates fighting for too few graduate jobs; where Deliveroo drivers have PhDs. What’s the point in a university education in a world without enough jobs? Roth writes a sharp critique of the utility of a degree and the functioning of higher education, drawing on his experience as a higher education administrator.

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We live in a world with too many graduates fighting for too few jobs; where Deliveroo and FedEx drivers have advanced degrees.

The Educated Underclass offers a much-needed look at this societal restructuring from the perspective of students. Gary Roth examines the way that universities often reproduce traditional class hierarchies, the mechanisms that enable upward and downward social mobility, and how the 'overproduction of intelligence' hinders students, calling for a realignment of how social classes function today.

The dream of social mobility is dying. Where previous generations where expected to surpass their parents' level of economic success, prospects for today's graduates are increasingly bleak.