Occupational Prestige in the United States, 1925-63

Abstract

A correlation of .99 between prestige scores derived from the 1947 North-Hatt-NORC study of occupational prestige and a 1963 replication of it indicates that very few changes in occupational prestige ratings have occurred in the sixteen-year period. Cautioned by the recognition that the North-Hatt-NORC list of occupations is not a very representative or extensive sample of occupations, one can marshal evidence from other studies dating back to 1925 which does not invalidate the view that no appreciable changes in the prestige structure of occupations have occurred in the United States in the last four decades. While over the entire period, 1925-63, no systematic trends can be detected in the prestige of particular occupations, it is possible to show that systematic, though small, changes were ocurring between 1947 and 1963. Scientific occupations were increasing in prestige, culturally oriented occuaptions, were occurring between 1947 and 1963. Scientific occupations were increasing in prestige, culturally oriented occupations were falling, and artisans were enjoying a mild upward trend. Nevertheless, the overriding conclusion must be that the structure of occupational prestige is remarkably stable through time as well as space.