Variations on a Theme: Occupational Hierarchies across Workplaces in Sweden

• In Event: 2148 - Social Inequality and Stratification: Cross-national Examples

Abstract

One of the foundational claims in social stratification research is that occupational hierarchies are largely invariant across societies, known as the Treiman constant. In this paper we examine how organizations intersect with occupations to produce unique occupational hierarchies within workplaces. We ask two questions: (1) do occupational hierarchies vary across workplaces, and (2) what can explain workplace-level variation in occupational hierarchies? Using administrative data from Sweden we measure the correlation between a workplaces’ occupational hierarchy and the national occupational hierarchy, finding substantial variation across workplaces in the extent to which the occupational hierarchy in the workplace conforms to the national occupational hierarchy. We then develop a set of contextual and relational variables at the organizational level to potentially explain this variation. Workplaces with more employees and more occupations as well as municipalities tend to conform to the national occupational hierarchy more. However, among the relational variables the only status group that consistently influences deviations from the national occupational hierarchy is men, where more men tend to enable greater deviations from the national hierarchy. This paper then points toward an important and novel empirical finding – variation across workplaces in occupational hierarchies – both confirming the power of the Treiman constant while opening up avenues to explore deviations from it. It also reveals the need to develop theories than can explain this workplace level variation.

Authors

• Dustin Avent-Holt, Augusta University

• Martin Hallsten, Stockholm University

• David A. Cort, University of Massachusetts-Amherst