Prof Diane Reay: The Class Politics We Don’t Talk About

Prof Diane Reay: The Class Politics We Don’t Talk About

From Graded by Yap Productions

November 27, 2025 · 51 min

About this episode

Diane Reay discusses the intersection of social class, race, and gender in education.

Diane Reay is Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge, with particular interests in social justice issues in education and cultural analyses of social class, race and gender. She grew up in a working-class, coal-mining community before becoming an inner-city primary school teacher for 20 years. Her research spans social class, gender and ethnicity across primary, secondary and post-compulsory stages of education. Martha is an educational researcher, with experience working with the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning, as well as various NGOs. She is particularly interested in issues of access, inclusion and equity in education. Martha has a master’s in Education Policy from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a BA in Sociology from Cambridge. Organisation mentioned in the epidose: Socialist Education Association https://socialisteducationalassociation.org More Than a Score https://www.morethanascore.org.uk/ Anti Academies Alliance https://antiacademies.org.uk Comprehensive Future https://comprehensivefuture.org.uk Disclaimers This podcast aims to provide a balanced and research-informed discussion. Every effort has been made to…

People in this episode

Host: Katharine Birbalsingh

Guest: Diane Reay

Topics covered

  • social justice
  • education
  • social class
  • race
  • gender

Keywords

  • access
  • inclusion
  • equity

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