Occupations are central to the stratification systems of industrial countries, but they have played little role in empirical attempts to explain the well-documented increase in wage inequality that occurred in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s. We address this deficiency by assessing occupation-level effects on wage inequality using data…

Proposes a model for the process of attaining occupational status and income where change in attainment is generated by the creation of vacant positions in social structure. (Author)

That sexual differentiation and racial differentiation in the occupational structure does not vary substantially across U.S. metropolitan areas is a conclusion of this study. (Author/AM)

Analyzes data from the November, 1979, Current Population Survey to investigate differences in occupational achievement among a large number of ethnic groups. Reports findings about migrants, ethnicity, and the assimilation process. Concludes that occupational returns for educational attainment typically increase with the number of generations in…

This study compares the representation in "Who's Who in America" of six groups: Blacks, Slavs, Jews, the English, and Scandinavians. Changes in the representation level of each group during the period 1924-1974 are examined. (Author/MC)

Reviews and partially reformulates the sociological literature on the persistence of ethnicity in American society. Ethnicity, it is concluded, is basically a manifestattion of the way populations are organized in terms of interaction patterns, institutions, personal values, attitudes, life styles, and presumed consciousness of kind: it is the…

States that if the wife is to work, it is important that her occupation reflect favorably on the family's socioeconomic position. This need for status offsets the need for her occupation to be of a nonthreatening status. It is suggested that the amount of disruptive competition which would occur if both the husband and wife worked has been…

Combining models of drift and life-course conceptualization, a 13-year panel study in a Toronto (Canada) suburb examines the effects of adolescent subcultural preferences on later adult status attainments. Two subcultures are identified (delinquency and party) for 693 secondary school students initially and 430 of them after 13 years. (SLD)

Examines how changes in the structure of Canadian entry-level occupations between 1930 and 1980 have been reflected in changes in the distributions of task requirements. Findings indicate that the importance of formal education for occupational access has increased for both men and women. (FMW)