Occupational Inheritance and Occupational Choices: Medicine, Teaching and Other Careers

1
Occupational Inheritance and Occupational
Choices Medicine, Teaching and Other Careers

• Fiona Devine, University of Manchester, UK

2
Introduction

• Class Analysis
• The debate on changing levels of analysis
• Disaggregation and issues of gender
• The Study
• Comparative UK/US study of middle-class
  reproduction
• British doctors and teachers
• The Paper
• Class theory and empirical research
• Medics and teachers and their children

3
Class reproduction and levels of analysis

• Gruskys contribution to the class debate
• - challenging long-standing methodological
  conventions
• Gruskys call for disaggregation
• -class reproduction at the level of occupations
  and occupational inheritance
• Goldthorpes critique of Grusky
• - neglect of macro issues, study of class
  structures and patterns and trends in social
  mobility
• Goldthorpes acknowledgement
• - complement to conventional class analysis and
  potential insights into class reproduction

4
Class reproduction and levels of analysis

• The virtues of methodological pluralism
• - exploring cultural dimensions of classes and
  occupations
• - link to the sociology of professions and
  social closure
• - desirability of occupations and bringing
  status back in
• - linking class and family processes following
  Cromptons lead
• What about issues of gender?
• - Gender segregation of labour market
• - Gendered nature of desirability of occupations

5
Researching class and occupational reproduction

• Draw on comparative UK/US study of class
  middle-class reproduction (Devine 2004, 2008)
• Focus on British doctors and teachers and their
  childre as examples of male and female
  professions
• Tracing the background of British medics and
  their families occupational inheritance and
  beyond
• Tracing the background of British medics and
  their families occupational inheritance and
  beyond
• Exploration of occupational inheritance,
  occupational choices and the desirability of
  occupations from parents to children

6
Table 1.1 The Sample of British and American
Interviewees

• --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  --------
• Interviewees Number of Children
• --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  --------
• British Doctors 12
• British Partners 12 33
• British Teachers 12
• British Partners 9 28
• American Physicians 12
• American Partners 9 27
• American Educators 12
• American Partners 8 28
• Total 86 116
• --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  --------

7
Medicine and other careers

• The education of medics children overwhelmingly
  private and single sex
• Occupational inheritance and sons talking about
  the intrinsic rewards of medicine
• Occupational inheritance and daughter(s) the
  pride of following in footsteps
• Accountancy, law and management the other good
  top jobs high incomes and good prospects

8
Medicine and other careers

• Daughters and teaching careers for the less
  academically inclined?
• To push or not push medicine? Creating the
  conditions for aspiring medics (sons)
• To push or not push medicine? Creating the
  conditions for aspiring medics (daughters)
• Young aspirations for medicine expressions of
  interest at an early age!
• A good profession for sons and daughters
  medicine as a well paid occupation with gendered
  advantages

9
Teaching and other careers

• The education of teachers children examples of
  private/state, single sex/mixed
• Ambivalent occupational inheritance the low pay
  and long hours of teaching
• Medicine and law again! promoted by school for
  high-achieving girls
• Other professional careers accountancy as
  another favourite once again

10
Teaching and other careers

• Young men the less academically inclined still
  spurn teaching
• Changing aspirations for daughters teaching is
  not inevitable and many other options are
  available
• Careers in the hospitality industry where good
  pay and promotion prospects are to be found
• Media careers wide array of options in camera
  work, production and so forth for young men
• Modern Apprenticeships and careers the
  importance of life-long learning in the pursuit
  of promotion and better pay

11
Conclusion

• There are many virtues to disaggregation for
  explaining class reproduction
• Reminds us of issues of occupational inheritance,
  choices and the desirability of occupations
• The gendered dimensions of these issues is
  crucial for understanding gender inequalities too