The Multidimensional Structure of Occupational Status: Power, Esteem, and Gender Stratification

• In Event: Gender and Stratification

Abstract

Research on occupational gender segregation has produced mixed findings regarding its relationship to status. We argue that these inconsistencies stem in part from reliance on prestige ratings, a unidimensional measure that may not fully capture the multidimensional structure of status. Building on theories that conceptualize status as both material power and moral esteem, we advance a multidimensional approach to measuring status using the semantic differential scale, which assesses social concepts on evaluation (goodness), potency (power), and activity (liveliness). Drawing on survey data in which respondents rated occupations on prestige, evaluation, potency, activity, and perceived gender composition, we show that prestige strongly corresponds to potency and the class structure, but only weakly reflects evaluation. Female-dominated occupations, however, are rated higher on evaluation but lower on potency–as a result, prestige declines with the number of women in an occupation because it disproportionately weights potency. By disentangling the power (potency) and esteem (evaluation) dimensions of status, our approach reveals that gender segregation has opposite associations with these two dimensions, a key pattern that is masked by prestige. Together, these findings resolve a measurement limitation, clarify prior mixed evidence, and provide a more precise account of how gendered cultural meanings structure occupational status hierarchies.

Authors

• Kiersten Hasenour, Stanford University

• Robert Freeland, Appalachian State University