Structure and Trend in the Process of Stratification for American Men and Women

Abstract

Using the 14 annual cross sections from the General Social Survey (GSS), the article describes and explains the year-to-year fluctuations in occupational attainment from 1972 to 1987. Although some commentators have argued that ascriptive processes have reemerged in recent years, only limited evidence of such processes over this period is found. Instead, the year-to-year fluctuations are a more complex function of various macro-level changes, and a multivariate model must be introduced to account for these patterns. The results indicate that the gradual growth of bureaucratic personnel policies might have equalized opportunities, but the direct political interventions by federal agencies appear to have more impressive and consistent effects. The article concludes by nothing that "evolutionary theories" of stratification have overlooked the effects of political interventions on occupational attainment.