Some esteemed a Cambridge backing the scholarly world (7)
I believe the answer is:
academe
'the scholarly world' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'some esteemed a cambridge backing' is the wordplay.
'some' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue (some of the parts of the word are used).
'backing' says the letters should be written backwards.
'emedaca' is hidden within 'esteemed a cambridge'.
'emedaca' written backwards gives 'ACADEME'.
(Other definitions for academe that I've seen before include "The world of education" , "place of learning" , "The scholarly world" , "University environment" , "intellectual world" .)