I would say she comes from a working class background and is middle class or "middle class passing". Meaning when she goes to a job interview, or meets people s

I would say she comes from a working class background and is middle class or "middle class passing". Meaning when she goes to a job interview, or meets people socially, they think she is middle class. The concern the author of the piece has is that if she says she's working class, it will suggest she overcame adversity to get to where she is, but from your comment, it's possible she grew up in an area with good middle-class-school-district-funded schools. Or maybe she went to a bad school and qualified for financial aid, I don't know. Our parents' attitudes which you're talking about can affect us, but so does our material circumstances and environment. In the UK where there's a stronger class based system, middle class is expressed through your accent and dialect, how you dress, etc.