scholarly journals Measuring Class Hierarchies in Postindustrial Societies: A criterion and construct validation of EGP and ESEC across 31 countries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Smallenbroek ◽  
Forian R. Hertel ◽  
Carlo Barone

In social stratification research, the most frequently used social class schema are based on employment relations (EGP and ESEC). These schemes have been propelled to paradigms for research on social mobility and educational inequalities and applied in cross-national research for both genders. Using the European Working Conditions Survey, we examine their criterion and construct validity across 31 countries and for both genders. We investigate whether classes are well-delineated by the theoretically assumed dimensions of employment relations and we assess how several measures of occupational advantage differ across classes. We find broad similarity in the criterion validity of EGP and ESEC across genders and countries as well as satisfactory levels of construct validity. However, the salariat classes are too heterogeneous and their boundaries with the intermediate classes are blurred. To improve the measurement of social class, we propose to differentiate managerial and professional occupations within the lower and higher salariat respectively. We show that implementing these distinctions in ESEC and EGP improves their criterion validity and allows to better identify privileged positions.

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannu Lahtinen ◽  
Outi Sirniö ◽  
Pekka Martikainen

Previous research has shown that an advantaged social class position protects individuals from unemployment, but less is known about how this relationship has developed after the turn of the millennium, how it varies by gender and to what extent education contributes to the association between these factors. We assess these questions using register-based data on the Finnish labour force over a 28-year period between 1988 and 2015. The overall risk of unemployment was 2.7–3.7-fold among manual classes compared to upper non-manual classes, and 1.4–1.7-fold among lower compared to upper non-manual classes. Controlling for education attenuated the differences between social classes by about two-thirds. Social class disparities were somewhat more distinct among men than among women, but gender differences narrowed over time. Overall, temporal changes were small, especially among men, except for a curvilinear pattern observed for the relative unemployment risk of the lower non-manual class. To conclude, despite a comparatively egalitarian context and drastic changes in economic conditions and labour market structures over time, social stratification in unemployment has been substantial and considerably persistent. This is in line with the conceptualization of social class underpinning differing employment relations and, therefore, inherently creating variation in labour market risks.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Gracia ◽  
Wen-Jui Han ◽  
Jianghong Li

Data from the ‘European Working Conditions Survey’ from 2005 to 2015 for 29 European countries show that the incidence of nonstandard work schedules (evenings, nights, weekends, rotating, shifts) differs remarkably across European regions with different public policies. Working nonstandard schedules differs by education, gender and parental status across Europe.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-32
Author(s):  
Le Hoang Anh Thu

This paper explores the charitable work of Buddhist women who work as petty traders in Hồ Chí Minh City. By focusing on the social interaction between givers and recipients, it examines the traders’ class identity, their perception of social stratification, and their relationship with the state. Charitable work reveals the petty traders’ negotiations with the state and with other social groups to define their moral and social status in Vietnam’s society. These negotiations contribute to their self-identification as a moral social class and to their perception of trade as ethical labor.


SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. A201-A202
Author(s):  
Kristina Puzino ◽  
Susan Calhoun ◽  
Allison Harvey ◽  
Julio Fernandez-Mendoza

Abstract Introduction The Sleep Inertia Questionnaire (SIQ) was developed and validated in patients with mood disorders to evaluate difficulties with becoming fully awake after nighttime sleep or daytime naps in a multidimensional manner. However, few data are available regarding its psychometric properties in clinical samples with sleep disorders. Methods 211 patients (43.0±16.4 years old, 68% female, 17% minority) evaluated at the Behavioral Sleep Medicine (BSM) program of Penn State Health Sleep Research & Treatment Center completed the SIQ. All patients were diagnosed using ICSD-3 criteria, with 111 receiving a diagnosis of chronic insomnia disorder (CID), 48 of a central disorder of hypersomnolence (CDH), and 52 of other sleep disorders (OSD). Structural equation modelling was used to conduct confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the SIQ. Results CFA supported four SIQ dimensions of “physiological”, “cognitive”, “emotional” and “response to” (RSI) sleep inertia with adequate goodness-of-fit (TLI=0.90, CFI=0.91, GFI=0.85, RMSEA=0.08). Internal consistency was high (α=0.94), including that of its dimensions (physiological α=0.89, cognitive α=0.94, emotional α=0.67, RSI α=0.78). Dimension inter-correlations were moderate to high (r=0.42–0.93, p<0.01), indicating good construct validity. Convergent validity showed moderate correlations with Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) scores (r=0.38) and large correlations with Flinders fatigue scale (FFS) scores (r=0.65). Criterion validity showed significantly (p<0.01) higher scores in subjects with CDH (69.0±16.6) as compared to those with CID (54.4±18.3) or OSD (58.5±20.0). A SIQ cut-off score ≥57.5 provided a sensitivity/specificity of 0.77/0.65, while a cut-off score ≥61.5 provided a sensitivity/specificity of 0.71/0.70 to identify CDH vs. ESS<10 (AUC=0.76). Conclusion The SIQ shows satisfactory indices of reliability and construct validity in a clinically-diverse sleep disorders sample. Its criterion validity is supported by its divergent association with hypersomnia vs. insomnia disorders, as well as its adequate sensitivity/specificity to identify patients with CDH. The SIQ can help clinicians easily assess the complex dimensionality of sleep inertia and target behavioral sleep treatments. Future studies should confirm the best SIQ cut-off score by including good sleeping controls, while clinical studies should determine its minimal clinically important difference after pharmacological or behavioral treatments. Support (if any):


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
I Houkes ◽  
E Hazelzet ◽  
P Mignon ◽  
A de Rijk

Abstract Background Sustainable employability (SE) is top priority. However, employers find it difficult to develop SE interventions. Measures based on the employee perspective of SE that would give direction to interventions, currently fall short, particularly for the understudied group of employees with lower levels of education (1/3 of the Dutch labor population). Earlier, the Maastricht Instrument for SE (MAISE-NL) was developed and validated in a sample of high-educated employees. This study aims to adjust and validate MAISE-NL for use among Lower Educated employees (MAISE-LE). Methods By means of focus groups consisting of employees with lower levels of education, items and response categories of MAISE have been aligned with the perceptions of these employees. Other items from subscales such as job control, self-efficacy and lifestyle were added. Language was checked for clarity and ambiguity. A questionnaire containing these items, as well as proxy variables (health and vitality) and demographics, was answered online by 944 lower educated employees from five organizations (response rates 44-64%). Construct validity, reliability and criterion validity were tested through PCA, CFA, Cronbach's alpha and correlations. Results MAISE-LE comprises 10 scales divided over four areas: (1) Level of SE; (2) Factors affecting my SE; (3) Overall responsibility for SE; and (4) Responsibility for factors affecting my SE. Preliminary results indicate that reliability, construct and criterion validity were adequate to good. Employees' SE was moderate to high, and was generally considered a shared responsibility of employee and employer. The latter varies per factor though. Employees wish to participate more in decisions regarding their work. Conclusions The MAISE-LE appeared to be reliable and valid. We recommend that employers use the MAISE-LE as a needs assessment in order to develop SE interventions that will be readily accepted and effective for employees with lower levels of education. Key messages MAISE-LE (Maastricht Instrument for Sustainable Employability) is a new instrument for measuring SE and the responsibility for SE from the perspective of employees with lower levels of education. The MAISE-LE will facilitate employers in the development of effective SE interventions, which align with the needs of this vulnerable group of employees.


Author(s):  
María Cascales Mira

AbstractThis article deals with the development of a new model for measuring job quality based on the intrinsic components of work, an European Intrinsic Job Quality Index. The objective is measure job quality on the basis of the characteristics inherent to the labour activity itself, and not from its financial rewards. First, we review the existing literature on current measurement models and justify the need for an index of this nature. Secondly, we explain the fundamental methodological decisions adopted for the construction of the index, and present the descriptive model, the indicators that make up each dimension, and the empirical model. Finally, we present the index scores by European Union countries within the framework of institutional theories. In this work, we have used a quantitative methodology, based on social indicator systems, and it has been carried out mainly with data from the European Working Conditions Survey (2015). The fundamental contribution of this article is the construction of a new model for measuring the quality of work, robust, valid and reliable, which will allow us to monitor the intrinsic job quality of the member countries, and thus provide relevant information that contributes to the framework of public policies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin C Williams ◽  
Ioana Alexandra Horodnic

Although it is widely held that working conditions in the informal economy are worse than in the formal economy, little evidence has been so far provided. The aim of this article is to fill this lacuna by comparing the working conditions of informal employees with formal employees using the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey. Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression analysis provides a nuanced and variegated appreciation of which working conditions are worse for informal employees, which are no different, and which are better for informal than formal employees. The article concludes by discussing the theoretical and policy implications.


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