Still inside, still 'out'-A decade of reflection on exposure, risk and survival

This article addresses the experience of exposure and the steps taken to ameliorate the dangers, explored through my personal observations in relation to my experiences working within British higher education for the past two decades. In particular I examine the interrelationships between my matrix of identity, my experiences and the structure and practices of higher education. The elements of this matrix include my class status, my parenting status, my gender and my sexuality, in particular the latter two. I discuss personal and, therefore, individual, actions yet these have not been developed and taken in isolation. The aim is to show how collective challenges can reduce structural discrimination at an individual level and aid the diminution of such structural oppressions. The methodological approach is one of auto/biography informed by some lessons of political science.