Time as privilege: exploring the intersection of social class and temporality as sources of invisible inequality in higher education

Abstract This research examines how invisible, taken-for-granted temporal structures in higher education institutions intersect with socioeconomic status—a typically invisible source of disadvantage—to perpetuate inequality. This study examines the experiences of low-income students from a temporal perspective, based on interviews with 70 low-income students in Israeli universities and colleges. Our study reveals how temporal policies and practices shape and perpetuate class-based inequalities and privileges in higher education. We identify two distinct mechanisms of temporal inequality: teaching/learning policies (including timetable structures, attendance requirements, and submission deadlines) and administrative-corporate policies (such as standardized degree completion times and inflexible tuition schedules). We argue that these policies and practices, constructed around the profile of higher-income students as “traditional” students, are sustained and justified by an ethos of meritocracy and neoliberal-corporate logic. Thus, we show the compounding effects of the intersection of two dimensions of invisible inequalities : the invisibilization of class-based inequalities through the normalization of temporal structures; and the neutralization of temporal inequalities through disregard of the significance of social class in shaping students' experiences. Consequently, in current higher education systems, time for studies is the privilege of higher-income students, while low-income students face a poverty penalty that manifests through lower academic performance, additional financial fees, and emotional costs.