Prestige versus socioeconomic status in the attainment processes of American men and women

This paper demonstrates the consequences to the researcher of choosing to analyze social mobility data with a prestige scale rather than with a socioeconomic index. First, the low intergenerational correlations reported for the International Prestige Scale are rejected when they are shown to be compatible with inadequate models of the processes of status inheritance. Second, the Duncan socioeconomic index is shown to be the preferred measure of status transmission in that it suffers from less random error than does the International Prestige Scale, particularly among men. Third, the occupational attainment processes of American men and women are described with socioeconomic scoring, and these findings are contrasted with those which obtain with prestige coding.     

Socioeconomic indexes and the new 1980 census occupational classification scheme

Because of their usefulness in a wide variety of research, socioeconomic scores have been revised several times to incorporate changes in the relevant components of the occupational structure and to conform with the changing census occupational classification schemes. The major purpose of this paper is to provide socioeconomic scores for the 1980 census occupational classification scheme. First, however, we review earlier versions of the socioeconomic index (SEI), summarize the relevant disparities between the 1970 and 1980 census occupational classificatory schemes, and then explain in detail the procedures used to reconcile the SEI with 1980 occupational codes. We also show that, although the 1980 occupational classificatory scheme differs radically from the 1970 occupational scheme, the socioconomic scores for 1980 occupational data replicate features found in 1970 data.     

Do females necessarily have the same occupational status scores as males? A conceptual and empirical examination of the Duncan Socioeconomic Status Index and Nam-Powers Occupational Status Scores

Social Science researchers have advanced important yet somewhat contradictory conclusions regarding the different economic and occupational reward structures faced by men and women. Income and wage differences between men and women have been shown to be sizable and persistent throughout the occupational hierarchy. Conversely, gender differences in occupational status, commonly scaled by the Duncan Socioeconomic Index, have been shown to be small or nonexistent in most studies. In an attempt to investigate this incongruity, the present study undertakes a comparison of the Duncan SEI and the Nam-Powers Occupational Status Scores in an empirical study of the occupational position of white men and women in 65 large standard metropolitan statistical areas (SMSAs) in 1970. While the findings of earlier studies showing no gender differences in occupational status are for the most part replicated using the Duncan SEI, use of the Nam-Powers scores prompts a much different conclusion. Large status differences between men and women are indicated using this latter scale, differences which are very much in line with income differences commonly cited. We suggest that the Nam-Powers metric should be used instead of the Duncan SEI in studies of occupational status of women and men.     

Measures of occupational status in a special population

Previous research has shown that indirect measures of occupational status such as the Duncan Socioeconomic Index (SEI) are more valid than direct measures of occupational prestige, such as those developed by the National Opinion Research Center and by Treiman, for analyses of social mobility. The Professional, Technical, and Kindred (PTK) occupations available for the SEI are a biased sample of all PTK occupations. Do findings on the validity of the SEI pertaining to the general population hold for special populations, such as college graduates? Confirmatory factor analysis comparing the validities of four measures of occupational SES—the SEI, a 1960 counterpart of the SEI developed by Siegel and based on all Census occupations, the NORC prestige scale, and the Treiman international prestige scale—showed that the indirect measure developed by Siegel was clearly more valid than the other three measures. Since these findings indicate that the predictors in a regression equation are more valid than the criterion, there is some question as to what the criterion should really be.     

Labor Market and Socioeconomic Effects on Marital Stability

This paper reports an investigation of the effects of socioeconomic and labor market factors on the dissolution of marriages since the mid 1960s. We examine the effects of possible sources of marital disruption, including poor labor market opportunities for young adults; the economic independence and improved labor market opportunities of women; and changes in the labor market roles and expectations of women within marriage. Using the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Men, Young Women, and Youth, we estimate the effects on marital stability of husbands′ and wives′ levels, differences and changes in educational attainment, income, and annual weeks worked. Our results suggest that average levels of couples′ educational attainment and recent work experiences positively affect marital stability. The degree to which husbands and wives differ on educational attainment and income does not affect marital stability, but the more that wives work relative to their husbands, the greater the chances of disruption. Positive changes in wives′ socioeconomic and labor force characteristics over the course of their marriages increase the odds of marital disruption.     

Sex and marriage of raters in the evaluation of occupations

The evaluation of occupational prestige ratings obtained from different subgroups within the same society has been shown to be remarkably similar (Reiss, A. J., Jr., Duncan, O. D., Hah, P. K., and North, C. C., 1961, Occupations and Social Status, Free Press, New York; Svalastoga, K., 1959, Prestige, Class, and Mobility, Gyldendal, Copenhagen; Tiryakian, E. A., 1958, American Journal of Sociology 63 (January), 390–399). Our purpose is to explore how the gender and marital status of raters influence the evaluation of occupational prestige. Using more detailed data than heretofore available, we will reexamine the similarity between occupational prestige evaluations observed among female and male respondents. Models of the way in which characteristics of occupational incumbents, such as income and education, are constructed to explore possible differences in the ways in which male and female raters evaluate occupations. The results of this analysis by gender of rater will then be used to examine both the gender and marital status of raters.     

Scaling the prestige,authority, and income potential of college curricula

This paper develops the concept of “targeted education,” a theoretical ranking of college curricula, into a multidimensional framework. The new scales, based on the traditional stratification dimensions, prestige, authority, and income, are then used in a study of sex differences in the process of occupational achievement among men and women with college degrees. The targeted education scales predict occupational prestige and wages 7 years after the college degree, and they point out interesting differences between male and female attainment processes. In general, targeted education has a greater quantitative impact for men's occupational outcomes than for women's prestige and income, but results also suggest significant qualitative differences between men and women. A large proportion of women target their education toward, and end up in, an under-employed labor pool for the primary and secondary school system.     

Assumptions of social mobility research in the U.S.: The case of occupational status

This paper examines the theoretical and empirical basis for common rank-orderings of occupational roles by raters throughout the world. From an illustrative comparison of occupational stratification in Australia and the United States we conclude tentatively that (1) commonalities in the socioeconomic characteristics of occupational roles provide the basis for interplace consistencies in “prestige” scores, (2) the structure of occupational mobility in the U.S. and Australia is largely similar, (3) this similar structure of occupational stratification manifests a common socioeconomic process which defines a (the?) major component of occupational mobility in capitalist, industrial (only?) societies. We infer that “prestige” scores for occupations are fallible estimates of the socioeconomic statuses of occupation, within the context of mobility processes in (at least) the U.S. and Australia.     

Occupational prestige from preference orientations via the Markov Chain: An alternative to respondent ranking techniques

This paper suggests a method of determining occupational prestige structures through simulation of transfer of credit processes involving the Markov Chain. The method required recording present and preferred occupations of a representative sample of employed persons. Following the example of Blau (1956) and Empey (1956) the concept “preferred occupation” is suggested as clearly distinct from occupational choice which has been treated by other researchers (Musgrave 1967; Carol and Parry 1968; Kuvlesky and Bealer 1966; Haller and Sewell 1967; Solcum 1956; and Philband and Gregory 1956). A series of Markov Chain interactions transforms the present-preferred occupation matrix, “controls” for structure limitations on ambitions and social distance, and generates a hierarchical model of occupational prestige structures. This paper examines the methodological and theoretical issues implicit in the measurement of prestige and the establishment of prestige hierarchies, and describes the procedures of the application of the Markov Chain to occupational preference responses. It reports the results of the application of this technique to a pilot sample and compares the resulting hierarchy with those derived from NORC measures and the Duncan socioeconomic index.     

Visible and invisible hands intertwined: State-market symbiotic interactions and changing income inequality in urban China

Analyzing the restructured political economy in 21st-century urban China, this project develops a “symbiotic interaction” model and reconceptualizes the state-market relationship to appreciate the changing inequality patterns. As the state and market have formed a long-term, intimate relationship, dynamic state policies interact with the fragmented labor market to redefine a set of socioeconomic capitals and statuses in affecting income inequality. Drawing empirical evidence from the Chinese General Social Survey 2003 and 2013 data, this paper employs linear and unconditional quantile regressions to compare income disparity patterns along both temporal and socio-spatial dimensions. The findings show that multiple key factors, including human capital (e.g., college education), political capital (e.g., party membership), occupational status (e.g., self-employment), and organizational type (e.g., state-owned enterprise), have all changed their economic returns over time and also played different roles for various earning groups. These findings suggest that we should conduct substantive institutional analyses of the evolving state-market relationship and their interplay to achieve a deeper understanding of the reshuffled stratification order in contemporary China. The proposed analytical framework also has broad implications in the research of other transitional economies.     

A new look at married women’s labor force transitions in Japan

In this paper, we examine educational differences in married women’s labor force attachment in Japan using 10 waves of data from a nationally representative survey. Results of discrete-time multi-state hazard models of labor force exit and entry indicate that university graduates are both more likely to remain in and less likely to reenter the labor force relative to women with a high school education or less. Their relatively low likelihood of labor force exit reflects educational differences in occupational characteristics, especially employment in full-time, standard jobs. However, junior college and university graduates remain substantially less likely to reenter the labor force net of family circumstances, characteristics of previous employment, and efforts to control for unobserved characteristics. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that tension between emerging incentives to remain in the labor force and lingering incentives to remain out of the labor force are both relatively strong among highly educated women. We conclude with speculation about the implications of these educational differences in married women’s employment for stratification.     

Reevaluating the uses of status: The case of earnings determination

Status and prestige variables and measures have been central to the sociological study of individual variations in income and other dependent variables for at least 2 decades. Yet theoretical and methodological rationales for the use of such variables in the explanation of income are problematic. This conclusion, along with some similar conclusions about other uses of status and prestige variables and measures, were reached after a review of Weberian, functionalist, and other prominent discussions of the uses of status/prestige in theory and research on income. It is suggested that an emphasis upon structural attributes of jobs is more promising than a continued emphasis upon evaluatory, status/prestige conceptions of jobs for effective theorizing about income determination. A quantitative analysis of earnings shows that income effects of a common measure of socio-economic status disappear in the context of a rudimentary structural model of income. It is concluded that social scientists should move on to use more varied attributes of jobs and exercise more caution in the use of status and prestige variables.     

私营资本企业劳资矛盾及其调解机制

当代中国私营资本企业中的劳资关系具有二重属性,即生产资料及财产占有关系的不平等性及政治社会地位和契约关系平等性。其中,不平等性是基础与条件,而平等性是居主导地位、起决定作用的根本属性,由此决定企业内部劳资矛盾不是阶级矛盾,而是一种新型的人民内部矛盾。其矛盾主要表现:1)不签劳动合同,引发劳资纠纷;2)缺乏合理的分配制度,随意克扣和拖欠工资,使雇工收入基本被控制在劳动力价值以下;3)缺乏劳动安全与社会保障制度,致使工伤事故不断,雇工合法权益得不到保障。协调与化解矛盾的主要机制是:1)建立健全党团及工会组织;2)进一步完善劳资关系方面的立法与执法;3)发展与健全劳动仲裁机构;4)确立劳资双方“互信”理念,建立正常的“理解与沟通”机制。     

Trends in the relative occupational status of African Americans and European immigrants in Northern cities, 1880–1970

In his classic book, A Piece of the Pie, Stanley Lieberson described divergent trends in occupational standing for African Americans and European immigrants after 1920, as the Great Migration from the South swelled the size of the black population in northern cities. In this paper I build upon Lieberson’s work using longitudinal data drawn from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series for the census years 1880–1970. This more versatile data source allows me to examine separate occupational trends for northern-born blacks and southern-born migrants and to control for relevant socio-demographic characteristics. The findings confirm Lieberson’s general conclusion that blacks lost ground, occupationally, to immigrants after 1920. However, they show further that: (1) northern- and southern-born blacks experienced different trends in relative occupational standing after 1920, (2) that these different trends were due largely to compositional differences between the two groups of northern blacks, especially educational differences, and (3) that blacks were generally less successful than immigrants at translating additional educational attainment into improved occupational status, with southern migrants experiencing the weakest occupational returns to education. It is concluded that compositional differences and a racially-defined occupational queue were the most important factors shaping group differences and trends in occupational standing between 1920 and 1970. Timing of arrival in the northern industrial economy and a response by whites to the “racial threat” from a growing black population were less important.     

Are there sex differences in the utilization of educational capital among college-educated workers?

This paper introduces the concept of educational utilization as an overlooked part of the education-to-work transition and a potential mechanism by which occupational sex segregation is generated among the college-educated labor force. The paper begins with a critical discussion of the operationalization approaches that have been used in prior research that implicitly measures educational utilization. Multiple empirical measure of the concept are then developed using data from the O*NET and the National Surveys of College Graduates. The explanatory power of each measure is assessed using conditional logit models of occupational attainment. A combined measure is then used to assess sex differences in educational utilization using data from the 1993 and 2003 National Surveys of College Graduates for 2 cohorts of college graduates—those who earned their baccalaureate or post-baccalaureate degrees and entered the labor market in the years 1985–1993 and 1995–2003. The analysis identifies sex differences in educational utilization that vary across field, degree level and cohort and concludes with an examination of the implications of sex differences in educational utilization for occupational segregation.     

Unemployment and men's entrance into female-dominated jobs

Despite the contraction of many male-dominated occupations, men have made limited progress in entering female-dominated jobs. Using monthly employment histories from the SIPP, we examine whether individual economic conditions—such as a period of unemployment—are associated with men subsequently pursuing female-dominated work. Specifically, we ask whether men are more likely to enter female-dominated jobs after unemployment, compared to men who take a new job directly from employment. We find that unemployment significantly increases the odds of men entering female-dominated work among men who make job transitions. By examining changes in occupational prestige as well as wage differences before and after unemployment, we also find that entering a female-dominated job (compared to other job types) may help men mitigate common scarring effects of unemployment such as wage losses and occupational prestige downgrades. Accordingly, this study reveals a critical occupational route that may allow men to remain upwardly mobile after involuntary unemployment.     

Vocational education and employment over the life course using a new measure of occupational specificity

Vocational education is seen as beneficial for the labor market allocation of young people. However, recent studies point to disadvantages later in the life course, where the specific skills that are obtained from vocational education decrease employability. This paper re-evaluates this hypothesis for the Netherlands with an improved measure for the vocational specificity of educational programs, utilizing both vertical (level) and horizontal (field) information on education. More specifically, we use a gradual measure for the linkage strength between education and occupation to predict employment over the life course. Using data from the national Dutch labor force surveys, we show that there is considerable heterogeneity in occupational specificity within the categories of vocational and general educational programs that is masked when using a dichotomous classification of general versus vocational education. In the life course analyses we find that the large early benefits of having vocational education disappear later in the career and turn into a small disadvantage before retirement.     

农村劳动力非农化的障碍因素与对策

“三农”问题一直是困扰我国经济发展的根本问题,而“三农”问题的核心是农民增收问题。新时期解决农民增收问题最有效的途径是加速农民非农化,扩大农民的非农就业。对农村劳动力非农化的障碍因素进行了深层次分析,并提出相应的解决对策：解放思想,更新观念、加大制度改革力度、提高农村劳动力整体素质、加快工业化和城镇化进程、提高农村劳动力资源开发、转移的组织化程度等,以加速农村劳动力非农化进程,促进国民经济持续、稳定、健康发展。     

论中国高校教师职业声望社会评价与自我评价的矛盾

在中国,教师现已成为声望最高的职业,高校教师职位也被求职者竞相争夺。但高校教师对自我职业声望的评价却低于整体评价。究其原因,主要可归纳为以下几点:一、在知识经济时代,高校教师的职业功能被社会所认可;随着国家经济实力的增强,其职业环境不断得到改善;在教师专业化的进程中,任职者的素质逐步提高。因此,高校教师职业声望得以提升是大势所趋。二、多数民众对高校教师职业没有直接认识和体验,容易受到个人经历与媒体报道的影响,往往会形成对高校教师的刻板印象,高估其职业环境。三、高校教师的职业声望地位和财富、权力地位实质上并不一致,他们所获得的资源与其发挥的职业功能并不匹配,也没有达到其期望。     

Intergenerational effects of shifts in women’s educational distribution in South Korea: Transmission, differential fertility, and assortative mating

This study examines the intergenerational effects of changes in women’s education in South Korea. We define intergenerational effects as changes in the distribution of educational attainment in an offspring generation associated with the changes in a parental generation. Departing from the previous approach in research on social mobility that has focused on intergenerational association, we examine the changes in the distribution of educational attainment across generations. Using a simulation method based on Mare and Maralani’s recursive population renewal model, we examine how intergenerational transmission, assortative mating, and differential fertility influence intergenerational effects. The results point to the following conclusions. First, we find a positive intergenerational effect: improvement in women’s education leads to improvement in daughter’s education. Second, we find that the magnitude of intergenerational effects substantially depends on assortative marriage and differential fertility: assortative mating amplifies and differential fertility dampens the intergenerational effects. Third, intergenerational effects become bigger for the less educated and smaller for the better educated over time, which is a consequence of educational expansion. We compare our results with Mare and Maralani’s original Indonesian study to illustrate how the model of intergenerational effects works in different socioeconomic circumstances.