The Working Class Face a βClass Ceilingβ in Elite Occupations NYT - Business By: Noam Scheiber 19 September 2026 at 13:55 Being female or a person of color has long been seen as a disadvantage in hiring and promotion. A new study of college professors shows that class may loom as large. Β© Kaiti Sullivan for The New York TimesClint Harris, whose parents did not graduate from college, says that in graduate school he lacked the savvy and networking skills of his peers.