academic clique; old school tie
Refers to a network of people from the same school or university who favor each other in professional or academic settings. Often carries a negative nuance of in-group favoritism.
That company has a strong academic clique, so it's hard to get promoted unless you're from the same university.
We should evaluate people based on their abilities, not on academic cliques.
old school tie; loyalty to one's alma mater
Compound of 学 (learning, school) and 閥 (clan, clique). The term emerged in modern Japanese to describe academic in-group favoritism.