Chaps holding model work back, keeping it in the family (8)
I believe the answer is:
nepotism
'keeping it in the family' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
I don't understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for nepotism that I've seen before include "example of relative favouritism" , "Showing favour" , "Favouritism shown in hiring relatives" , "The favouring of relatives or friends for jobs, etc" , "Fixing up the relatives with good jobs" .)