Gender Differences in the Evaluation of Prestige

This study examines the prestige accorded to male and female incumbents in occupations. Respondents were asked to rate the prestige of occupations and the prestige of male and female incumbents in those occupations. Two main findings are discussed in this paper. First, the prestige of male and female incumbents often differs substantially. The size of these differences is strongly related to the sex com-position of the occupations. Second, the sex composition of occupations has a significant effect on the prestige of sex-atypical jobholders, even after the effects of perceived income and education are accounted for. The implications of these findings for theories and research on occupational prestige are discussed.     

Changes in the Labor Market and Occupational Prestige Scores

Abstract  In spite of the great changes in the structures of industry as well as work and occupation in postwar Japan as a result of rapid industrialization, occupational prestige scores as an index of people's evaluation of occupations did not reveal the corresponding changes. They maintained consistent stability since the mid 1950s aside from parallel upward movements, which might be a result of the permeation of an egalitarian ideology. Three kinds of occupational prestige scores calculated from data in the SSM survey of 1955, 1975 and 1995 had very high correlation with each other. The scores also showed a strong correlation between levels of education and income for each occupation, and no relation with labor market situation. And the unchanged order of occupations in Japan might be one of the reasons for the stability. The fact that people's evaluation of occupations revealed by prestige scores has scarcely changed and such scores has been associated with differences in the level of education makes us suspect that Japan's "credentialism" might be weakened in the near future.     

THE MEANING OF OCCUPATIONAL PRESTIGE SCORES:

This research reexamines the meaning of occupational prestige scores from the social psychological perspective of identity theory. Using comparable data for Canada and the United States, it analyzes the degree to which the education and income levels of occupations influence occupational prestige judgements by evoking affective associations (feelings about the goodness, powerfulness, and liveliness of occupational identities), as well as the extent to which these social sentiments are independent determinants of prestige. There has been a longstanding controversy about the normative content of occupational prestige scores. We find that moral worthiness (as measured by the Evaluation dimension of the semantic differential) is a determinant of the prestige of occupations with low and middle but not high levels of education and income. We also find that the impact of education on prestige scores is direct and cognitive, while a considerable proportion of the total effect of income is processed through feelings about the potency of occupations. The results for the two countries are very similar. One exception is that moral worthiness is a more important determinant of prestige in the United States than in Canada. We connect this finding to the literature comparing value differences between the two countries.     

A Canonical Correlation Analysis of Occupational Mobility Among Mexican Americans*

Studies of occupational mobility have generally ranked occupations on the basis of their socioeconomic status level or prestige component to measure movement between jobs. Two potential problems may limit the usefulness of that approach for racial and ethnic minority groups: (1) the relationship between occupation and socioeconomic status may not be the same as for the majority group, and (2) minority group members are more likely to be clustered at the low end of both socioeconomic and prestige scales. Canonical correlation analysis requires no prior ranking of occupations, so we use it to investigate intergenerational and career mobility among a sample of Mexican Americans. The findings indicate that mobility among Mexican Americans is about as frequent as among the total population, but that the pattern of movement differs considerably. As a result, the relative status of occupations among Mexican Americans has changed over time and, consequently, socioeconomic status scales developed for the total population do not provide accurate assessments of mobility for Mexican Americans. This discrepancy is less noticeable for career mobility, indicating that among the latest generation of Mexican Americans, mobility patterns are becoming more similar to those in the rest of society.     

A comparison of the allocation of male and female occupational prestige*

Ce travail cherche à répondre à deux questions: de quel façon le sexe d'un ouvrier influence l'évaluation du prestige professionnel, et quelle est la relation existant entre la composition des sexes par rapport aux occupations, et l'évaluation du prestige professionnel lorsque le sexe des ouvriers est pris en considération. Trois échelles du prestige professionnel (traditionnelle, masculine, féminine) sont créées. Les résultats indiquent des différences dans l'ordre hiérarchique et les niveaux moyens du prestige professionnel masculin et féminin. De plus, la composition par sexe des occupations influence le statut social des occupations de deux façons différentes. This paper is concerned with two questions: how does the sex of the worker influence the evaluation of occupational prestige, and what is the relationship between the sex composition of occupations and the evaluation of occupational prestige when the sex of the worker is taken into consideration? Three occupational prestige scales (traditional, male, and female) are created. The results show differences in both the rank order and mean levels of male and female occupational prestige. In addition the sex composition of occupations is shown to influence the social standing of occupations in two separate ways.     

Sex Role Variations in Occupational Prestige Ratings

Abstract

Studies of the prestige accorded to differing occupations by the general public, such as the NORC 1947 and 1963 ratings of 88 different occupations, have had a major shortcoming: they have focused on male-dominated occupations, and presented them to respondents in a context suggesting that male incumbents were to be given the prestige ratings. Analysis of the ratings by sex of respondent showed little systematic difference. In order to estimate the current public evaluation of occupations in which females have largely been segregated in the recent past, and to examine the sex role variations in these prestige ratings, data were collected as part of a larger study on ten occupations in the human service field, four currently male-dominated, three female-dominated, and four with a mixed sex ratio. Women were found to rate female occupations higher, but the ratings of men and women with respect to male dominated occupations were virtually identical. These findings persisted when race and social class of respondents were controlled. It is suggested that researchers who utilize the prestige of occupations as an explanatory variable in studies of occupational aspirations of youth, career choice job mobility and the like need to consider the different images of the work world held by men and women if their findings are to be valid.     

The Contribution of White Collars to Occupational Prestige*

Regression analysis of the 1947 and 1963 NORC occupational prestige scores for 45 occupations indicates that being white-collar may have contributed modestly to the prestige of the 24 nonmanual occupations in 1947, net of economic rewards and educational selectivity, but that any such effect had largely disappeared by 1963. The findings tend to support the view that the white-collar-blue collar distinction has become less important in American society.     

Socioeconomic Indexes for Occupations: A Review, Update, and Critique

Following a review of the history and sources of socioeconomic indexes for occupations, we estimate a new set of indexes for 1990 Census occupation lines, based on relationships between the prestige ratings obtained by Nakao and Treas in the 1989 General Social Survey and characteristics of occupational incumbents in the 1990 Census. We also investigate theoretical and empirical relationships among socioeconomic and prestige indexes, using data from the 1994 General Social Survey. Many common occupations, especially those held by women, do not fit the typical relationships among prestige, education, and earnings. The fit between prestige and socioeconomic characteristics of occupations can be improved by statistical transformation of the variables. However, in rudimentary models of occupational stratification, prestige-validated socioeconomic indexes are of limited value. They give too much weight to occupational earnings, and they ignore intergenerational relationships between occupational education and occupational earnings. Levels of occupational education appear to define the main dimension of occupational persistence across and within generations. We conclude that composite indexes of occupational socioeconomic status are scientifically obsolete.     

Suicide and Educational Attainment in a Transitional Society*

The sociological evidence available to date has not firmly established the relationship between suicide and social status. It is postulated here that societies in different stages of development may manifest different patterns of etiology of suicide, and thus the suicide rates of different social strata may change over time. Educational attainment is used as an indicator of social status, rather than “usual” occupations as in previous studies. From an analysis of a transitional society, it is concluded: first, the relation between suicide and social status is negative; and second, with coming societal changes, it is likely that the relation between suicide and social status will also change.     

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Work satisfaction, self‐esteem, and alienation measures were obtained from white males in three service occupations (bartenders, barbers, and mailmen) at different levels of the occupational prestige hierarchy. While we found an overall positive relationship between work satisfaction and occupational prestige, this only held for variables where societal reference groups were forced upon the respondents. Such findings suggest that the relationship between work satisfaction and occupational prestige is less absolute than usually suggested by the literature. Hypotheses from the literature arguing for a direct relationship between occupational prestige and alienation were not supported by our data. We conclude that sociologists probably overestimate the salience of work and occupational prestige for the working class.     

Education and Occupations: Reexamining the Conventional Wisdom About Later First Births Among American Mothers

Using biannual Current Population Survey data, this paper reexamines the question of how education and occupations led to the postponement of first births among American mothers in the 1970s through 1990s. Analytical methods in earlier investigations predispose researchers to favor an investment model of education's effects, but an alternative method used in this analysis suggests that college attainment's major effect on age at first birth is primarily the result of years spent childless in college. Mothers-to-be in higher prestige occupations did delay motherhood longer than did those in other occupations. This study extends earlier research by examining whether or not conclusions drawn about all women (with and without children) apply to the majority of women—those who become mothers. The expansion of higher education, higher prestige occupations, and their impact on work and family decisions are discussed.     

Functional Vocational Cognition: Dimensions of Real-World Accuracy

Which dimensions (time, opportunity, money, physical, mental, prestige) are most accurately judged across various occupations? Which occupations (e.g., secretary, nurse, truck driver) are most accurately judged across the various dimensions? Students in a rehabilitation program (n = 60) were reasonably accurate on all dimensions except opportunity. They had more accurate information on some occupations (e.g., nurse) than on others (e.g., mechanic). Functional cognition is discussed in terms of prior interest or real-world contact with these vocational dimensions and occupations.     

Burnout,coping and suicidal ideation: An application and extension of the job demand-control-support model

Suicidal tendencies are typically considered related to individual traits or predispositions, but some occupations have significantly higher rates than other occupations and the general population. This article proposes that stressful work conditions may be important in understanding occupational variations in suicidal tendencies. It explores the links between work-related factors and burnout, and suicidal thoughts among veterinarians. Burnout appears to be an important mediator in understanding veterinarians’ suicidal tendencies; work conditions that are emotionally exhausting for veterinarians may foster suicidal thoughts. Individual coping strategies are also explored. Emotion-focused strategies of avoidance and alcohol consumption not only exacerbate burnout and suicidal thoughts but also amplify the harmful effects of some job demands. Active problem solving is not as beneficial as expected, but a supportive work environment is a valuable coping resource. Organizational interventions and coping resources effective in reducing burnout may also reduce the risk of suicide for those in service occupations.     

Contemporary Social Problems in Japan: A Study of the Suicide and Depopulation Problems

Abstract  Two complementary investigations were undertaken:
1. Research into the relationship between suicide and depopulation in Shimane Prefecture.
2. Research into the relationship between the perception of social problems and unwanted objective conditions, employing suicide as the example of unwanted conditions.
To summarize the most important findings:
1. The suicide rates have been notably higher in depopulated areas.
2. The partial correlation of suicide to depopulation was high, when the effect of aging of population was removed.
3. This partial correlation has increased since 1975. There has been an aggravation of the problem of suicide as a depopulation problem.
4. The correlation of suicide to aging of the population vanished, when the effect of depopulation was removed.
5. At 70 and over, the suicide rates have been notably higher in depopulated areas.
6. The correlation of the age-specific suicide rate with the depopulation rate, increases with age and the correlation of the suicide rate among old people to the depopulation rate, was notably higher.
7. These suicidal tendencies express the mores of society. Morality underlies the perception of social problems, while morality could not exist without generating suicide at a certain point. Both suicide and the perception of suicide as social problems are largely determined by morality. This is our paradoxical hypothesis.
8. Lastly, we emphasize that there are serious depopulation problems in Japan. This is particularly obvious, if suicide is employed as the indicator of depopulation severity.     

Professionalism and the Public*

To explore the factor of public opinion as a component of professionalism, the prestige ratings of rehabilitation occupations, as given by a representative national sample replicating the North-Hatt technique, are analyzed. Visibility of an occupation does not necessarily increase prestige. Segmental visibility varies by exposure to the needs served by an occupation and by familiarity arising from work experiences. Stereotyping in terms of broad occupational categories, however, appears more likely to form lay opinion than specific job knowledge. Attitudes of particular segments, rather than general public views, are considered critical in professionalism.     

The Allocation of Male and Female Occupational Prestige in an Ontario Urban Area: A Quarter‐Century Replication*

Une étude de 1975 portant sur L'évaluation du prestige des titres de profession spécifiés comme détenus par un homme ou une femme a été répétée en 2000. Les deux enquêtes ont été conduites à Kitchener‐Waterloo en Ontario. Alors que les données de 1975 accordaient un avantage de cinq points en moyenne aux hommes sur les femmes, ce fossé des sexes a disparu en 2000. Dans les postes où le travail est plus axé sur les personnes, les femmes se voient maintenant accorder un plus haut prestige que les hommes. L'article fait référence à la manière dont ces changements sociaux sont liés au cours du dernier quart de siècle à une convergence dans L'identification sexuelle des professions. Les sources de variation dans les évaluations de L'échantillonnage de 2000 sont analysées et considérées comme minimes quoique les répondants ayant un plus haut degré d'éducation classent toutes les professions légèrement à la baisse. A 1975 study on the evaluation of the prestige of occupational titles specified as held by a man or a woman was replicated in 2000. Both surveys were collected in Kitchener‐Waterloo, Ontario. While the 1975 data revealed an average five‐point advantage to men over women, this gender gap had disappeared by the year 2000. In more people‐oriented work, women are now accorded higher prestige than men. The paper refers to how these social changes are linked with convergence over the quarter century in the sex typing of occupations. Sources of variation in ratings within the 2000 sample are examined and found to be minimal, although more highly educated respondents grade all occupations slightly on the low side.     

The future of clinical practice: A study

This paper presents the results of a study conducted to determine how BSW and MSW social work students differentially assess the relative prestige and effectiveness of casework, psychotherapy, and private practice in relation to thirteen other social work methods, and to ascertain what methods they would ideally like to practice upon graduation from their respective programs. The results indicate that undergraduate and graduate students view the average prestige and effectiveness of the three clinical methods quite differently. Also, the results reveal a very low correlation between what methods the students would like to practice and how they assess their prestige and effectiveness.     

African‐American Women and Suicide: A Review and Critique of the Literature

This paper reviews the literature on African‐American women’s suicide rates. This topic is often neglected due to African‐American women’s low rates of suicide occurrence. This review seeks to answer the call for increased scientific inquiry on matters related to African‐American women and suicide. The author begins by identifying complex dynamics surrounding African‐American women’s unique social position in order to establish a better understanding of how socio‐cultural influences are addressed in the literature in relation to the suicide paradox. Both theoretical and empirical studies are thoroughly assessed in order to identify the risk and protective factors exclusive to African‐American women. The literature concludes that a history of mental disorders, particularly depression, a history of physical and emotional abuse, and a history of alcohol and substance abuse have all proven significant in increasing the risk of suicidal behavior among African‐American women. Untreated depression continues to be the leading cause of suicide among African‐American women. Contrarily, the literature identifies religious/spiritual beliefs, strong social ties, low rates of suicide acceptability, and unique coping strategies developed as a result of longstanding oppressive conditions as primary reasons for African‐American women’s exceptionally low suicide rates.