Abstract
Research shows that sexual minorities and heterosexuals differ in the level of success in educational and earnings attainment, but differences in occupational attainment have been unclear. To extend the literature, this article examines sexual orientation differences in young adulthood occupational status by analyzing the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health Waves 1 to 4. Drawing from the life course literature, a theoretical framework is developed to explain how sexual orientation shifts opportunities and constraints in the occupational attainment process. The analysis shows that the association between sexual orientation and occupational status depends on gender, the type of sexual experience used to measure sexual orientation, and the timing of first sexual experience. Women who report their first same-sex attraction or sexual contact in young adulthood have lower occupational status than those without such experience, and men who report their first same-sex dating relationships in young adulthood tend to have higher occupational status than those without such relationships. These findings extend the existing knowledge on sexual development and status attainment, which has mainly focused on heterosexual development.
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