Sex, Schooling, and Occupational Status

Abstract

Based on data from an 18-year follow-up of Wisconsin high school seniors, this paper describes the process of occupational achievement among men and women from labor market entry to mid-life. In contrast to several earlier studies, there are marked sex differences in the acquisition and maintenance of occupational status. The effect of post high school education on the status of first jobs is twice as great among men as among women, and the effect of the status of first jobs on that of current jobs is one-third greater among men than among women. Men gain an average of nine points on the Duncan scale betweentheir first civilian jobs and their jobs at age 36, but women lose an average of more than two points on the Duncan scale. At the same time, sex differences in occupational attainment are not all disadvantageous to women. First jobs of women are six points higher in status on the average than first jobs of men, and when the status of first jobs is controlled, the continuing influence of schooling on occupational status is twice as great among women as among men. Consequently, as others have also found, the total effects of schooling on the occupational statuses of women and men are the same at mid-life. Among the minority of women who remain childless, the process of occupational attainment is more similar to that among men.