Yrke, status genus : en sociologisk studie om yrken på en segregerad arbetsmarknad

摘要

This dissertation is a study of occupational prestige/status with the purpose ofdescribing and interpreting perceptions of occupational prestige. The analyticalfocus is the relationship between occupational prestige and gender. Threemethods have been used in the study: a survey, focus group interviews and ananalysis of public descriptions of occupations. The survey was conducted in 2002and questionnaires were distributed to 3032 respondents. The response rate was61 percent. Four focus group interviews were conducted where participants wereasked to rank order 20 occupations. The Swedish national labour market board’s(AMS) occupational descriptions were analysed to find out to what extent thesereproduced stereotyped images concerning gender and class.The ranking order of occupations is similar to those found in earlier studies.Occupational prestige may be perceived as a stable phenomenon in society. Thereis a strong agreement on the status of different occupations between differentsubgroups in society. The ranking orders constructed by the focus groups werealso equivalent to the survey ranking order. Levels of income, educationalrequirements, levels of influence and a positive reputation have a positiveinfluence on occupational prestige. The share of women within an occupation hasa negative effect on occupational prestige but only in occupations found on thetop of the occupational ranking order. Educational requirements were strongercriteria for occupational status in some occupations, while income was stronger inothers. It also seems as if different factors have varying significance foroccupational prestige, depending on the occupation being discussed. In addition,several of these criteria of prestige have also in other studies been associated withmasculinity.The public descriptions of occupations that were analysed did not reproduceimages of gender. However, class seems to be a factor affecting the occupationaldescriptions, since prestigious occupations are described with a more advancedlanguage and with a frequent use of titles.