Professor Sam Friedman

Sam Friedman is a sociologist of class and inequality, and his research focuses on the cultural dimensions of contemporary class division. He recently co-authored Born To Rule which explores how the British elite has changed over the last 120 years. He is now working on three new projects; 1) cross-class friendship 2) the social stratification of cultural taste and 3) how class origin shapes career progression in US tech.

Key expertise: Social Mobility, Social Class, Elites, Taste, Cultural Distinction

Sam is currently working on three new projects. The first is a qualitative study (with Rose Butler) that explores how people manage differences in class background in the construction and maintenance of close friendships. Here, drawing on in-depth interviews, they are currently developing the idea of ‘class diplomacy’ to describe the intricate ways that people successfully navigate cross-class friendships. The second is a mixed methods study (with Aaron Reeves) that aims to update our understanding of cultural taste in the UK. The first stage, a large-scale survey carried out with NatCen, was carried out in August 2025, and in 2026 and 2027 they will be carrying out 100 interviews with survey respondents in their homes. The third project (with Anna Stansbury) extends Sam’s previous work on class ceilings to the US tech industry. Drawing on a mixed methods case study of a large US tech firm, this examines the drivers of a ‘first-gen’ career progression gap at the firm.

Alongside these projects, Sam continues to research the British elite, building on his recent book Born To Rule (with Aaron Reves). Their most recent paper looks further at the idea that elites capitalise on a symbolic market for ordinariness and that this acts to legitimise income inequality.

Sam also retains research interests in social mobility, with recent papers looking at who gets ahead in the academic profession, the role of CEOs in shaping the class pay gap, and the literary genre of autosociobiography.

Sam is part of the Social Inequalities and Knowledge, Culture and Technology research clusters.

Sam is Co-Director of the MSc in Culture and Society. He teaches modules on Class, Culture and Meritocracy and Social Scientific Analysis of Inequalities.

Sam is committed to making his research accessible to wider audiences, engaging practitioners, policymakers, and the public.

• Sam is a Fellow at The Bridge Group and a member of The Bridge Group Advisory Board.
• Sam is a member of The Social Mobility Alliance advisory group.
• Sam was interviewed on The Guardian's Today in Focus podcast, where he discusses the enduring influence of private schools in the making of the British elite.
• Sam was interviewed by The Times on a podcast entitled "Who really runs Britain?"
• Between 2018 and 2021, Sam was a Commissioner at the Social Mobility Commission. He wrote the 2021 research report Navigating the Labyrinth: Socio-economic Background and Career Progression within the Civil Service.