Occupational prestige and occupational social value in the United Kingdom: New indices for the modern British economy

2024/04/26 by Gemma Newlands, Christoph Lutz · 1 voice · 2 citations
Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Employment and Welfare Studies #Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies #Youth Education and Societal Dynamics

paper · doi:10.1016/j.rssm.2024.100935

openalex publication_date 2024/04/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

Sociological research has long been interested in occupational evaluation. However, occupational research remains hampered by conceptual ambiguity and methodological problems. To address these issues, we present new indices of occupational prestige and occupational social value for 576 occupation titles aligned with the ILO International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08). A shorter core list with 130 occupation titles – one per ISCO-08 minor group – is also provided. Based on comprehensive and recent evidence from 2429 respondents, we carve out the evaluative landscape of occupations in the United Kingdom. We show how occupational prestige and occupational social value are correlated but distinct. A clear hierarchy appears, with highly educated occupations at the top and stigmatised or illicit occupations at the bottom. The study thus contributes to social stratification research and encourages reuse of the scores in future occupational research.

Citations

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Cited by

• A technological construction of society: Comparing GPT‐4 and human respondents for occupational evaluation in the UK
• Who Feels Prestigious? Gender Differences in Self-Rated Occupational Prestige

Discussions

• 📜 Our latest paper came out in RSSM! Gemma Newlands and I developed a comprehensive list of 576 occupation titles aligned with ISCO-08. We then collected prestige and social value scores from over 24 [bsky, 2 points, 1 comments]

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