Professor Stuart examines the role of higher education in supporting social mobility from the viewpoint of students who went to English universities during the last half century. Based on nearly 150 life history accounts from graduates who were the first in their families to enter higher education, she shows how individuals moved from their families to achieve at university and go on to work in academia. The book tracks the impact of changes to policies for higher education from the 1950s to the present day through the lens of individual life stories and richly details the effects of political decisions on ordinary people's lives.