Working Class Women

Rachael Gibbons discusses class, social mobility and Imposter Syndrome. In a talk recorded at the Green Man Festival in mid-Wales, Rachael discusses her experiences as a working-class woman. She asks what social mobility means when you find it difficult to fit in at grammar school or university, while at home your friends do different things and you're no longer part of their circle. She tells stories about her imposter syndrome, and how she overcame it. But at the heart of her talk is another syndrome - the so-called 'Jonah Complex', where you're afraid of your own success. Rachael recognises this not just in herself, but in many of her working class friends, she reveals: a fear that success will alienate you from what and who you know and love. Producer: Giles Edwards