Academic head maintains setter's lower status (6)
I believe the answer is:
demean
'lower status' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'academic head maintains setter's' is the wordplay.
'academic head' becomes 'dean' (dean is a kind of head. I am not sure about the 'academic' bit.).
'maintains' is an insertion indicator.
'setter' becomes 'me' (the setter of the clue).
'dean' enclosing 'me' is 'DEMEAN'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for demean that I've seen before include "Reduce in worth" , "Cause (someone) to suffer loss of dignity" , "Lower, degrade" , "Lower in reputation, shame" , "Lower in status or reputation" .)