Occupational Rank Research Articles

Getting Ahead in the GDR

This paper deals with the returns to social capital in occupational attainment in the GDR, once a communist showcase. It examines the extent to which getting ahead in an industrial communist society depends on social capital, which by existing research was shown to be the case in agrarian communist and capitalist industrial societies. Industrial technology and a Marxist ideology supposedly both impede particularism, suggesting that social capital is not that important for getting ahead. In addition, the relationship between the use of and access to social resources is explored. Retrospective data from two random samples collected in 1992 and 1993 in Leipzig and Dresden have been used to test our expectations. Although universalism seemingly dominated the attainment process, as a person's education was more important than his father's resources, nearly half of the employed got their jobs through some informal channel. Yet, the use of informal resources only led to a better job if the contact person had high occupational prestige. Part of the influence of human capital on occupational achievement should be attributed to the effect of a person's social capital, i.e. a contact person with high prestige. Access to occupations through informal ties did not imply that these ties were used. Although one reached higher occupational ranks through weak ties (acquaintances), access through strong ties (friends or relatives) was crucial for finding a contact person with high prestige. This probably reflects the high damage potential of using illegal particularistic ties under communism. Using a high prestige contact person was far more important for getting a better job than having access to higher occupations.

Ranking occupations based upon the costs of job-related injuries and diseases.

In this article, we construct a ranking of occupations based upon the costs of job-related injuries and illnesses. Data are drawn from large nationally representative Bureau of Labor (BLS) data sets. Information is obtained on occupation and workers' compensation (WC) category of the injury or illness, which are then matched to information on costs. Six broad occupations and 413 specific (3-digit) occupations are ranked by total costs. Six broad and 223 specific occupations are ranked by costs per worker (average cost). Operators and laborers is the broad occupation category that contributes both the highest total and average cost. Specific occupations that contributed the most to total costs include heavy truck drivers, non-construction laborers, machine operators (not specified), occupations not classified, janitors, nursing orderlies, construction laborers, assemblers, retail sales workers (not elsewhere specified), miscellaneous machine operators, and carpenters. Occupations high on the average cost list include not-specified mechanics, general and construction laborers, press apprentices, welders, stone cutters, and warehouse workers. Although the BLS data are limited, they can be used to provide a preliminary look at which occupations are contributing the most and the least to the overall economic costs of occupational injuries and illnesses.

Educational and Occupational Outcome of Hyperactive Boys Grown Up

Little is known about the adult outcome of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a very prevalent childhood disorder that is known to affect deleteriously academic performance and other areas of child functioning. This study represents a third wave of evaluations that examine the long-term educational achievement and occupational rank of children with ADHD. This is a prospective follow-up of white boys of average intelligence whose ADHD was clinically diagnosed according to systematic criteria at an average age of 7 years. Follow-up intervals range from 15 to 21 years (mean, 17 years). At average age 24 years, 85 probands (representing 82% of the childhood cohort) and 73 controls (84%) were directly interviewed by trained clinicians who were blind to group membership. First, probands completed significantly less formal schooling than controls (about 2 years less, on average). Second, probands had lower-ranking occupational positions than controls. Finally, these disadvantages were not accounted for by adult mental status. The present study suggests that childhood ADHD predisposes to specific disadvantages and continues to affect important functional domains unrelated to current psychiatric diagnosis.

Housing rent and occupational rank in Beijing and Shenyang, People's Republic of China

Housing reform in China is moving towards privatization or marketization of public housing. To be successful, the reform requires that policy makers allow housing rent differentials to arise and permit reform in wages parallel to reform in rent. This paper analyses the effects of occupational ranks and housing attributes on urban housing rents in Beijing and Shenyang, China. Our work focuses on the magnitude of rent discounts available to different occupational ranks.

Causes of Death in the Workplace

Introduction Literature Review Data and Method The Occupation List The Industry List National Estimates and Causes of 5,498 Job-Related Deaths in 1979-81, 1983, 1985, 1986 Women Limitations and Reliability Tests Conclusion Appendix A: Denominators for Occupations Appendix B: Denominators for Industries Appendix C: Male and Female Job Deaths within Occupations Appendix D: Male and Female Job Deaths within Industries Appendix E: Bureau of Labor Statistics Appendix F: Occupations with Zero Deaths Appendix G: Ranking of Occupations with Five or More Deaths Appendix H: Industries with Zero Deaths Appendix I: Ranking of Industries with Five or More Deaths References Index

Is self-esteem an important outcome in hyperactive children?

Using a prospective design, this study examined (a) whether hyperactive children suffer from low self-esteem as adolescents; (b) whether low self-esteem is associated with poor functioning in adolescence; (c) whether hyperactive children exhibit a positive illusory bias, in which self-esteem is independent of level of functioning; and (d) whether self-esteem in adolescence is associated with poor functioning in adulthood. Subjects were 65 children diagnosed as hyperactive in childhood, and 62 matched controls sampled from a medical clinic. After controlling for current mental disorder, the hyperactive cohort reported lower self-esteem in adolescence, was judged by clinicians to have lower levels of overall adjustment in adolescence, and had lower educational achievement and occupational rank in adulthood, as compared to controls.

Adult outcome of hyperactive boys. Educational achievement, occupational rank, and psychiatric status.

The paucity of data concerning the long-term natural history of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a common childhood psychiatric disorder, prompted a longitudinal study to investigate the adult sequelae of the childhood disorder. Prospective study, follow-up intervals ranging from 13 to 19 years (mean, 16 years), with blind systematic clinical assessments. Ninety-one white males (mean age, 26 years), representing 88% of a cohort systematically diagnosed as hyperactive in childhood, and 95 (95%) of comparison cases of similar race, gender, age, whose teachers had voiced no complaints about their school behavior in childhood. Probands had significantly higher rates than comparisons of ADHD symptoms (11% vs 1%), antisocial personality disorders (18% vs 2%), and drug abuse disorders (16% vs 4%). Significant comorbidity occurred between antisocial and drug disorders. Educational and occupational achievements were significantly compromised in the probands. These disadvantages were independent of psychiatric status. We did not find increased rates of affective or anxiety disorders in the probands. Childhood ADHD predicts specific adult psychiatric disorders, namely antisocial and drug abuse disorders. In the adolescent outcome of this cohort, we found that these disturbances were dependent on the continuation of ADHD symptoms. In contrast, in adulthood, antisocial and drug disorders appeared, in part, independent of sustained ADHD. In addition, regardless of psychiatric status, ADHD placed children at relative risk for educational and vocational disadvantage. The results do not support a relationship between childhood ADHD and adult mood or anxiety disorders.

Liver cirrhosis deaths within occupations and industries in the California occupational mortality study

Mortality rates were drawn from the California Occupational Mortality Study (COMS) to analyze liver cirrhosis deaths within occupations and industries from 1979 to 1981. Age-adjusted Standardized Mortality Rates (SMRs) were made available by the State of California for separate analyses of women, men, blacks and whites. Rankings of occupations with narrow confidence intervals were strikingly similar for blacks and whites. Within occupations, the highest female SMRs were for waitresses, telephone operators, cosmetologists, dress makers, hospital orderlies, textile workers, and laborers. The lowest female SMRs were for skilled crafts workers and teachers. High male occupations included water transportation workers, bartenders, loggers, laborers, roofers, construction workers, farm workers, iron workers, and painters. Low male occupations included teachers, physicians and dentists, managers, factory supervisors, business sales workers, heavy equipment operators, and other professionals. High female industries included eating and drinking places, laundry/dry cleaning, nursing and personal care facilities, aerospace, beauty shops, and entertainment. Low female industries included wholesale trades and education. High male industries included water transportation, military, guard services, eating and drinking places, iron and steel mills, and railroads. Low male industries included research/engineering labs, education, and computer manufacturing. This study was descriptive. It remains unknown whether certain jobs cause excessive drinking and cirrhosis, or whether people who are prone to develop cirrhosis select certain jobs.

On the Stability of Occupational Rankings

A major puzzle for sociologists is how it can be that societies that differ vastly in their culture and economic circumstances maintain a similar ranking of occupations. Economists have identified a similar stability in the wage structure. The difference in pay of skilled and unskilled workers has been stable over time and is surprisingly similar in developed and undeveloped countries. This article contends that these two phenomena reflect the same basic principle: If workers are free to choose their occupation and level of skill, then differences in culture and in the state of development will mainly affect the number of workers in different activities but not their rewards. In the language of economists, free mobility generates highly elastic supply into different occupations and skills. Therefore, occupational rewards are largely independent of demand.

A Ranking of Occupations Based on the Blood Pressures of Incumbents in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I

Data were drawn from a subsample of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I, 1971 to 1975, consisting of persons 25 years of age and older who stated they were employed in one of roughly 400 US Census three-digit occupations (n = 8130). Occupations with fewer than five persons were excluded from the analysis. Diastolic and systolic blood pressures were calculated for each of 244 occupations, simultaneously adjusting for age, gender, and body mass in an analysis of covariance model. A disproportionately high number of craft, operative, laboring, and farming jobs have incumbents with higher than average blood pressures, and a disproportionately low number of professional, managerial, and clerical jobs have incumbents with higher than average blood pressures. Jobs whose incumbents have especially high blood pressures include bartenders and dry cleaning operatives. Whether jobs cause high blood pressure or persons with high blood pressure choose those particular jobs remains unknown.

Sociodemographic determinants in Australia of the intake of food and nutrients implicated in cancer aetiology

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the role that diet can play in the promotion, retardation or amelioration of the cancer process. This has led to the development of dietary guidelines for cancer prevention by health authorities in several Western societies. However, there is still limited information about the sociodemographic determinants of intake of foods and nutrients of interest in many of these countries. A study of the dietary intake of a random sample of residents of the State of Victoria in Australia showed that women, those in the older age groups and in the higher occupational ranks, had diets more in line with current recommendations for cancer prevention--the most marked differences being between men and women. However, the sociodemographic differences were relatively small compared with the low rate of overall compliance with the guidelines.

Central life interests of Singaporean workers

This study uses Dubin's CLI concept to explore the relationship between the work and non-work life space of Singaporean employees. The sample size of 268 was drawn from a cross-section of employees in both private and public organisations. Most of the respondents in the sample adopted a flexible focus stance toward work. This finding supports the spillover model of the work and non-work relationship. No statistically significant relationship is found between commitment to work and occupational rank. The implications of the findings for human resource management in Singapore are discussed.

Occupational stress, strain, and coping in university faculty

An interactive model of occupational stress, strain, and coping was utilized in assessing the relationships between male and female university faculty at three occupational ranks (assistant, associate, and full professor). The hypothesis tested was that given equal amounts of stress, strain is moderated by coping. Eightythree faculty members from a large midwestern university were administered the Occupational Stress Inventory. No significant differences were found between sex or occupational rank on measures of coping and role Stressors. However, regression analysis indicated a significant interaction between sex and rank on predicted strain scores. Results indicated that occupational rank is an important variable when discussing the differential effects of stress, strain, and coping between men and women in a university setting.

Intergenerational occupational mobility within the Republic of Ireland: The ignored female dimension

Since the early 1960s, feminists have challenged the sexist nature of social mobility research, deriding sociologists for their universally accepted research practice of excluding women from social stratification analysis. The present article is addressed to the general issue of female social stratification. Specifically, using a Republic of Ireland sample, the contribution of both male and female parental background characteristics as well as the influence of women's own educational achievements on their intergenerational occupational mobility patterns are investigated. The general conclusion of this paper is that both mothers and fathers exert significant effects upon the occupational attainment of Irish women. Although a woman's own education remained the primary determinant of her occupational rank, maternal occupational status also played a major additional contributory role, both directly and indirectly, in predicting the occupational attainment of Irish women. Thus, future social mobility studies must take into account the male and female parental background characteristics as independent vital determinants of the occupational attainment of women.

Job satisfaction differences among three age groups of female human service workers

Data obtained from more than 900 “young”, “middle-aged” and “older” female human service workers located in disparate areas of the nation were analyzed to determine job satisfaction levels as assessed by two standardized indices. The data indicate members of one of these groups to be significantly more satisfied than other women and that factors such as income, educational attainment and occupational rank explain very marginal amounts of the variance in accounting for these differences.

Temporal Change in Occupational Differentiation

Interest in nonstatus and nonprestige dimensions of occupational differentiation prompts questions concerning temporal change in new measures of occupational ranking. Literature that argues in favor of temporal change in the bases of occupational differentiation is juxtaposed with arguments suggesting stability. Confirmatory factor analytic models of occupational complexity, physical dexterity, physical activities, and unpleasantness of work suggest considerable stability in their measurement between 1965 and 1977. Limitations to the analysis and DOT data are noted. Implications for opposing arguments are discussed, as are the types of research situations in which these findings would be useful.

Day-care treatment for multiple drug abusing adolescents: social factors linked with completing treatment.

By identifying some of the social correlates linked with completing day-care drug abuse treatment, the present study has sought to broaden understanding of how drug rehabilitations are effected. As the findings have demonstrated, completing care is a result of a complex array of causes and their interaction. The disposition of the entering patient (i.e., their determination and other strengths) has a great bearing on treatment outcome. It is also a result of the patient's family, their motivations, resources and perseverance in enduring a long course of demanding therapeutic interventions. In addition, it is the product of meanings shared and transmitted between the patient's family and the treatment staff. Patients and their families project positive attitudes about the value of the therapeutic enterprise as well as a compliant demeanor. As staff recognize that patients and parents are acting cooperatively, then such perceptions tend to create self-fulfilling prophecies. The data has established that older adolescent patients are more likely to possess the motivational resources needed for program completion than younger patients. Apparently, self-referred patients are also more inclined to meet the demands of program requirements than those referred by the courts or other outside social agencies, although the differences fell short of the .05 level of statistical significance. Those completing the program are less likely to be diagnosed as depressed at intake. Parental characteristics comprise another group of variables that are related to treatment completion. Parents of higher occupational rank, who have had mental health care for themselves, and who are of Jewish ethnicity appear to possess useful strengths for meeting program challenges. The pattern of spouse mutuality in dealing with a child's needs as it exists preceding and during treatment seems to be another useful asset for successfully getting through this form of treatment. While parents with the above characteristics possess resources that help them to endure the rigors inherent in this form of care, these attributes help project positive images to professional staff about family and patient commitment to treatment. The results of the present study also suggest that certain familial structural arrangements either facilitate or impede program completion. Three particular types of family structures were linked with remaining in treatment longer or finishing: (1) children who were the only children in their families who were living at home; (2) children with siblings who had been in treatment at the program; and (3) children without older brothers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Estimating income-dependent occupational scores for 1940

Recently released public use microdata sample files (PUMS) from the 1940 United States census represent important additions to census time-series data. However, the usefulness of this data set for stratification analyses is limited by missing data on self-employment earnings and the absence of an interval scale for the 1940 classification of occupations. In this paper, we report the methodology used to derive these measures and the results. 1940 census-based occupational SEI scores are estimated, following O. D. Duncan (1961), and an additional method of ranking occupations, mean occupational earnings (MOE), is also described. These two measures of occupational rank should add to the sociological literature on scaling occupations and model testing, and are currently being analyzed in an ongoing research project on patterns of ethnic and immigrant group stratification during the 1940–1950 decade.

Central Life Interests of Australian Workers

A total of 252 male Melbourne workers of varying occupational ranks completed Dubin's central life interest (CLI) questionnaire. The results suggest that Australian respondents were far less committed to work than their American, Canadian, British, and Japanese counterparts. A large proportion of the Australian sample was characterized by dual commitment to both work and leisure. There was no variation in commitment on the basis of occupational rank in the Australian sample. Overall the results are consistent with the spillover rather than the compensatory model of the relationship between work and nonwork.

Occupational Prestige Hierarchy: Methodological Artifact or Cultural Category System

Occupational prestige findings are among the most stable, replicable findings in all of sociology. Yet, the “cognitive reality” underlying these findings has never been clearly established. Based on the responses provided by students to three questionnaires and comparative data from the more recent NORC study of occupational prestige, the research described in this paper investigates two hypotheses: 1) the occupational rankings resulting from the five‐point scale used in the NORC studies reflect highly differentiated evaluations in the minds of respondents; and 2) occupational prestige rankings form a unidimensional scale. Both of these hypotheses were supported. Not only is the occupational prestige hierarchy highly differentiated in the minds of individuals, it is predominantly a single dimension about which there is substantial agreement. The implications of these findings are briefly discussed.