occupational mobility
occupational mobilityOften wrongly called social mobility. It refers to the movement of an occupational group itself, or of an individual member of an occupation, or of an occupational vacancy, through the stratification system of social space. Studies of the Hindu caste system illustrate the first; father–son occupational achievement the second; and Harrison White's study of clergy vacancy-chains the third.
Most studies assume a unidimensional scaling or gradation of occupations in terms of their prestige or status against which movement is then assessed. Thus, ‘downward’ mobility refers to loss, and ‘upward’ mobility to increase in occupational prestige. An important distinction is to be drawn between within or intra-generational mobility (for example career patterns) and between or intergenerational mobility...
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