Status Attainment of Young White Men and Women: Two Socioeconomic Measures

Abstract

This chapter investigates whether substantive conclusions regarding the occupational status attainment of men and women are affected by the socioeconomic measure used. The variability in educational achievement is more limited among women who tend to complete high school without acquiring additional education. The evidence for the remaining sex interactions is contradictory or is limited to one study. The analyses of occupational status attainment are more difficult to summarize because the two earliest studies include only current job, while the two more recent studies include both first and current job. The most consistent findings on the relationship between family background characteristics and occupational status attainment involve the effect of father’s occupational status, father’s and mother’s education and rural origin on current job. The original occupational status score derived by Nam and associates was also based on males.