scholarly journals Who benefits from attending elite universities? Family background and graduates' career trajectories

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Klein
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Negative Selection ◽  
Family Background ◽  
Occupational Prestige ◽  
Selection Hypothesis ◽  
Educational Backgrounds ◽  
British Cohort Study ◽  
Dynamic Perspective ◽  
Curve Modeling

The literature on social stratification has paid considerable attention to whether and to what extent attending prestigious universities is advantageous for graduates’ labor market returns. This paper contributes to the literature by applying a more dynamic perspective in asking whether graduates from prestigious and less prestigious universities differ in their career progression across fourteen years since labor market entry. It further investigates whether graduating from prestigious universities pays off more or less for graduates from different educational backgrounds. The positive selection hypothesis suggests that students most likely to attend prestigious universities will benefit the most. The negative selection hypothesis suggests the opposite. Using multilevel growth curve modeling and the 1970 British Cohort Study (N = 939), the findings show no discernible differences in occupational prestige between graduates from diverse universities. If at all, there is a small Russell Group premium restricted to the early working career. This early Russell Group premium is only found among first-generation graduates providing evidence for the negative selection hypothesis.

Social Origins of the Chinese Scientific Elite

1999 ◽  
Vol 160 ◽  
pp. 992-1018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cong Cao
Keyword(s):  
Biological Sciences ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Family Background ◽  
The United States ◽  
Occupational Prestige ◽  
National Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Chinese Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Scientific Elite ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Mathematics And Physics

The literature on China's social stratification and mobility has discussed the roles of family background and an individual's education attainment. This article aims to extend the existing literature by examining the interplay of these two aspects in fostering a homogeneous group of scientists, the members (yuanshi) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS, Zhongguo kexueyuan). Since its establishment in 1955, honorific CAS membership has been awarded to outstanding Chinese scientists in their respective fields. As of the end of 1997, a total of 859 Chinese natural scientists, including 40 women, had been elected to the five Academic Divisions of the CAS – Mathematics and Physics, Chemistry, Biological Sciences, Earth Sciences, and Technological Sciences (Table 1) – of whom 610 were alive. They have been renowned, nationally if not internationally, for their academic achievements and contributions, and they have a reputation and prestige similar to those enjoyed by their counterparts in other countries, such as members of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States and fellows of the Royal Society in Britain. Because the occupational prestige of scientists is very high in China, as it is in other countries, and following similar research on the scientific elite, it is reasonable to define CAS members as the Chinese scientific elite.

scholarly journals Social Origin, Field of Study and Career Progression: Heterogeneity in Graduates’ Occupational Mobility

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marita Jacob ◽  
Markus Klein
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Career Progression ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Occupational Prestige ◽  
Social Origin ◽  
Field Of Study ◽  
British Cohort Study ◽  
Growth Curve Modelling ◽  
Dynamic Perspective ◽  
Parental Class

Research on stratification and mobility has consistently shown that there is a direct impact of social origin on occupational destination net of educational attainment even for degree-holders. However, only a few studies applied a longitudinal and dynamic perspective on how intergenerational mobility shapes graduates’ working careers. Using multilevel growth curve modelling and data from the 1970 British cohort study (BCS70), we contribute to this research by looking at the emergence of social inequalities during the first ten years since labour market entry. We further distinguish between graduates of different fields of study as we expect social disparities to develop differently due to differences in initial occupational placement and upward mobility processes. We find that parental class does not affect occupational prestige over and above prior achievement. Separate analyses by the field of study show that initial differences in occupational prestige and career progression do not differ between graduates from different classes of origin in STEM fields and arts and humanities. It is only in the social sciences that working class graduates start with lower occupational prestige but soon catch up with their peers from higher classes. Overall, our results indicate no direct effect of social origin on occupational attainment for degree-holders once we broaden our focus to a dynamic life course perspective.

Generazioni e valutazione sociale delle occupazioni

2009 ◽  
pp. 81-97
Author(s):  
Amalia Caputo ◽  
Daniela Napoletano
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Social Desirability ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Generational Differences ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Social Evaluation ◽  
Labor Flexibility ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

- In this article the authors analyse the social evaluation of occupations, examining the impact of generation on the judgments about the social desirability of occupations. The authors show that some generational differences are noticeable when looking at the criteria that respondents use to order occupations.Key words: Generation, Labor flexibility, Evaluation criteria, Labor market, Social Stratification, Occupational Stratification Scale

scholarly journals Socio-Economic Standing and Social Status in Contemporary Japan: Scale Constructions and Their Applications

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 548-561
Author(s):  
Sho Fujihara
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Employment Status ◽  
Occupational Status ◽  
Occupational Prestige ◽  
Asian Society ◽  
Culturally Different ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Class And Status ◽  
Status Index

Abstract Current debates on the conceptualization and measurement of social stratification are finding increasing value in Weber’s distinction between class and status for empirical analysis. However, aspects of Weber’s theory have yet to be sufficiently investigated. Indeed, it remains unclear whether Weber’s theory can be applied to temporally and culturally different circumstances, or whether social status is preferred to other occupational scales such as prestige or socio-economic standing. To address this gap, this study constructed a Japanese Socio-Economic Index (JSEI) and a Japanese Social Status Index (JSSI), using data from the Employment Status Survey conducted in 2007 and 2012. We applied these two indexes to analyses of social stratification in Japan, finding that the JSEI and JSSI worked better in the intergenerational inheritance of occupational status than the Japanese occupational prestige scale. We also found that the JSSI was useful for predicting the cultural activities of individuals—as Weber predicted. The JSEI and JSSI showed results similar to those found in European societies and so demonstrated their validity and usefulness for investigating social stratification in Japan, thereby extending European findings on social stratification into an Asian society.

Reproducing the Working Class? Incongruence between the Valuation of Social-Emotional Skills in School and in the Labor Market

2020 ◽  
pp. 073112142095637
Author(s):  
Siqi Han
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Occupational Status ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Student Sample ◽  
Emotional Skills ◽  
Foundational Work

The power of social-emotional skills to improve student achievement has been hailed in recent literature. Yet foundational work in sociology of education indicates that these skills may benefit the status attainment of middle-class students more than lower-class students, as schools cultivate class-specific social-emotional skills appropriate to a student’s perceived future occupation, reproducing the class structure in the labor market. Drawing on a high school student sample from Add Health, I examine the GPA and career rewards for two types of social-emotional skills, engagement with teachers and with peers. Results suggest that engagement with teachers benefit students’ educational achievement and occupational status, and engagement with peers benefit their income, but a distinct class-based effect heterogeneity of engagement with teachers is only seen in school: middle-class students benefit from it more than lower-class students. I discuss the implications of these findings for research on social-emotional skills and social stratification.

Difficulties facing women entrepreneurs in Israel: a social stratification approach

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sibylle Heilbrunn ◽  
Khaled Abu-Asbeh ◽  
Muhammed Abu Nasra
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Women Entrepreneurs ◽  
Immigrant Women ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Women Business Owners ◽  
Majority Population ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explore the difficulties facing entrepreneurs in three groups of women in Israel: immigrant women from the Former Soviet Union (FSU), women belonging to the Palestinian Israeli minority and Jewish Israeli women belonging to the majority population. Relying on the stratification approach, the authors investigate the extent to which labor market, resource and women-specific disadvantages constrain women's entrepreneurship within these three groups. Design/methodology/approach – The target research population consisted of 477 women entrepreneurs who operated businesses between 2009 and 2010. Using systematic sampling, the authors surveyed 148 FSU immigrant women business owners, 150 Jewish Israeli women business owners and 170 Palestinian Israeli women business owners, using a comprehensive questionnaire administered in the entrepreneurs' native language. Findings – The authors found similarities and differences between the three groups as to their ability to handle difficulties deriving from labor market, resource and women-specific disadvantages. Overall, the authors found that Palestinian women entrepreneurs have relatively more difficulties than the other two groups. Research limitations/implications – Women entrepreneurs' socio-political status within stratified social realities imposes constraints on their economic activities. Further research should investigate policies, which could assist in overcoming these constraints taking into consideration similarities and differences between specific groups. Originality/value – In addition to shedding light on the impact of socio-political environmental circumstances on women entrepreneurs in a particular country, the authors believe that applying the social stratification approach is especially valuable at the intersection of minority status, gender and entrepreneurship.

Immigrants' Progress: Ethnic and Gender Differences among U.S. Immigrants in the 1980s

1994 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Waldinger ◽  
Greta Gilbertson
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Occupational Prestige ◽  
Skilled Immigrants ◽  
Generation Immigrant ◽  
Language Difficulties ◽  
Occupational Achievement ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Using Data

Using data from the June 1986 and June 1988 Current Population Surveys, we look at differences in occupational achievement, education, occupational prestige, and per capita income among a large number of first-generation immigrant groups. We seek to explore a central question in the debate about the economic prospects of immigrants: Do groups convert education into occupational prestige in similar ways? To address this issue, we examine differences in estimated rates of returns to socioeconomic occupational scores for education among immigrant groups. Notwithstanding language difficulties and unfamiliarity with the labor market—characteristics that we could not measure with this dataset—the labor market experiences of higher-skilled immigrants appear not to differ appreciably from that of native whites of native parentage. By contrast, low-skilled immigrants are concentrated in low-level jobs where the structure of employment seems to limit the rewards to additional gains in skill.

scholarly journals Understanding the Mechanisms of Intergenerational Social Inequality in Demographic Behavior

2021 ◽  
pp. 141-153
Author(s):  
Nicole Hiekel
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Family Background ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Demographic Behavior

AbstractIn this chapter I contrast the economic and cultural perspective of intergenerational transmission processes of social inequality in demographic behavior. I systematically compile the underlying social mechanisms that are scattered across the literature and apply them to the relationships investigated within the CONOPP project. Identifying a predominant focus on the parental resource perspective in the literature linking family background and young adult demographic behavior, I argue in favor of widening the theoretical perspective. Greater theoretical width will enable social scientists to more comprehensively grasp the persistent social stratification of demographic behavior across generations and the role of context in moderating these relationships. I conclude with some suggestions on how future research can further push the boundaries of understanding these relationships.

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