Occupational prestige: Difference between revisions

[[Sociologist]]s use the concept of '''Occupationaloccupational prestige''' (also known as '''job prestige''') is a way for sociologists to describemeasure the relative [[social class|social-class]] positions people havemay achieve by practicing a given [[job|occupation]]. ItOccupational refersprestige toresults from the consensual naturerating of rating a job - based on the belief of itsthat job's worthiness. The term ''prestige'' itself refers to the [[reputation|admiration and respect]] that a particular occupation holds in a [[society]]. Occupational prestige is prestige independent of the particular individualindividuals who occupiesoccupy a job. Sociologists have identified prestige rankings for more than 700 occupations based on results from a series of national surveys. They have created a scale (with 0 being the lowest possible score toand 100 being the highest,) and then rankedrank thegiven occupations based on thesurvey results of the survey.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hauser|first=Robert|title=Socioeconomic Indexes for Occupations: A Review, Update, and Critique|url=http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/cdewp/96-01.pdf|publisher=Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison|accessdate=26 October 2012}}</ref>

People rate the ‘general standing’ of an occupation (the most common question). It is taken to be a measure of occupational prestige and hence of the [[social status]] of occupations. Many other criteria have been proposed, including ‘social usefulness’ as well as ‘prestige’ and ‘status’ themselves. In order to obtain the scale of occupations (which is invariably taken to be national in application), respondents' ratings are aggregated.

Job prestige did not become a fully developed concept until 1947 when the [[National Opinion Research Center]] (NORC), under the leadership of Cecil C. North,<ref name="North1949">{{cite journal | last1 = North, | first1 = C., &| Hart,last2 = Hatt | first2 = P. K. (| year = 1949). | title = Jobs and Occupations: A popular evaluation. ''| journal = Opinion News'', '''| volume = 9''', | page = 313. }}</ref> conducted a [[opinion poll|survey]] which held questions regarding age, [[education]], and [[income]] in regard to the prestige of certain [[employment|job]]s. This was the first time job prestige had ever been researched, measured, and taught. Duncan's Socioeconomic Index (DSI, SEI) <ref name=Duncan1961>Duncan, O. D. (1961). A Socioeconomic Index for all Occupations. In J. Reiss, Jr. (Ed.), Occupations and Social Status (pp. 109–138). New York: Free Press of Glencoe</ref> became one of the most important outcomes of this survey, as it gave various occupational categories different scores based on the survey results as well as the result of [[1950 United States Census|the 1950 Census of Population]]. During the 1960s the NORC did a second generation of surveys which became the basis for the socioeconomic status (SES) score until the 1980s as well as the foundation for Trieman's International Prestige Scale in 1977. Out of these surveys and research job prestige has been defined in various ways. Some definitions include:

Different people seem to weight these issues differently in their understanding of prestige. Most people seem to implicitly view prestige as a weighted average of income and education and this is the operational definition used in indices like DSI and ISEI. However other people (especially in the working class) seem to have more moralized notions of how much a job helps society and would, for instance, rate doctors high and lawyers low even though both jobs require postgraduate degrees and earn high incomes.<ref>Donald J. Treiman. (1977). Occupational Prestige in Comparative Perspective. New York: ''Academic Press''.</ref><ref>Michael{{cite journal | last1 = Young and| Peterfirst1 = Michael | last2 = Willmott (| first2 = Peter | year = 1956). | title = Social Grading by Manual Workers. ''| journal = British Journal of Sociology'': '''| volume = 7''': | issue = 4| pages = 337–345 | doi=10.2307/586697| jstor = 586697 }}</ref>

The indicators most commonly used to measure SES come from Duncan's (1961) Socioeconomic Index (SEI), a composite of occupational prestige, income, and education. Duncan used data from North and Hart's study of 1949 occupational prestige and census data <ref name="North1949"/> to conduct the first correlational study of the statistical relationship between education, income, and occupation. Duncan focused on white males with at least a high school education and income of $3,500 dollars or more in 1949, and found correlations among income, public-ranking of occupational prestige, and educational level of around 0.75. The study did not report whether the index included a sample of ethnic minorities.<ref name="Easton2007">Donald Easton-Brooks, D. & Alan Davis, A. (2007). Wealth, Traditional Socioeconomic Indicators, and The Achievement Debt. ''The Journal of Negro Education''. Washington: Fall 2007. '''76''' (4); 530–542.</ref>

<ref name="Nakao">{{cite journal | last1 = Nakao, | first1 = K., &| last2 = Treas, | first2 = J. (| year = 1994). | title = Updating Occupational Prestige and Socioeconomic Scores: How the new measures measure up. ''| journal = Sociological Methodology'', '''| volume = 24''', | pages = 1–72 | doi=10.2307/270978| jstor = 270978 }}</ref>

During the 1960s through the 1980s job prestige was calculated in a variety of different ways. People were given index cards with about 100 or so jobs listed on them and had to rank them from most to least prestigious. This ranking system was known as placing jobs in a "ladder of social standing." Another method they used in this time period was to have the respondents rank jobs on a "horizontal ruler" using specific guidelines such as estimated income, freedom of choice, and how interesting the job was. No matter what the method the outcomes were generally the same .{{citation needed|date=August 2008}}

Although pay and fame have little to do with occupational prestige, the measures of prestige isare a part of the concept of social economicsocioeconomic status (SES). JobJobs with high prestige are more likely to have a higher level of pay stability, better lateral career mobility, and established professional associations. Some popular scales that are used to measure SES include: the Hollingshead's four-factor and six measureindex of Socialsocial Economics Status Scalestatus, the Nam, -Powers-Boyd, and Power scale, and the Duncan's measuresSocioeconomic of Social economicsIndex.

A 2007 [[Harris Poll]] of 1,010 U.S. adults suggested that occupational prestige is linked to perceived impact on community welfare;, the highest ranking jobs being firefighter, scientists, and teachers.<ref>The Harris Poll #77, August 1 (2007). "Firefighters, Scientists And Teachers Top List As Most Prestigious Occupations; According To Latest Harris Poll:Bankers, Actors And Real Estate Agents Are At The Bottom Of The List"</ref> Lower ranking jobs include well-paid positions such as brokers, actors, and bankers. Police officers and Engineersengineers tended to fall somewhere in the middle of the ladder. According to The Harris Poll (2007), the following are the changes over the last quarter century of American's view as the most and least prestigious jobs:

The list of occupations by prestige assembled by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) in 1989 is the one most commonly used. The list<ref>{{cite web|title=Norc Scores|url=http://ibgwww.colorado.edu/~agross/NNSD/prestige%20scores.html|work=Colorado Adoption Project: Resources for Researchers|publisher=Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder|accessdateaccess-date=26 October 2012}}</ref> includes over 800 occupations, but only the top 2030 with the highest prestige scores are listed here.

| ChemicalNuclear engineerTechnician || 73.3070

| Aeronautical Engineer (not elsewhere classified) || 70.69

| ChemistArchitect || 73.3367

| ProfessorPharmacist || 71.7967

| PsychologistAirline Pilot || 69.3966

| ClergyNurse/Psychiatrist || 68.9666

| JudgeLawyer || 71.4964

* {{cite journal | last1 = Stevens, | first1 = G, &| last2 = Featherman, | first2 = D. L. (| year = 1981). | title = A Revised Socioeconomic Index of Occupational Status. | journal = Social Science Research, | volume = 10, | issue = 4| pages = 364–395 | doi=10.1016/0049-089x(81)90011-9}}

* {{cite journal | last1 = Klaczynski, | first1 = Paul A. "| year = 1991 | title = Sociocultural Myths and Occupational Attainment: Educational Influences on Adolescents' Perceptions of Social Status." | journal = Youth and Society, 1991,| volume = 22, | issue = 4,| June,pages = 448–467 | doi=10.1177/0044118x91022004002| s2cid = 144036559 }}