This paper investigates how fathers' and mothers' education and occupational status affect the educational and occupational attainment of sons and daugh ters, and how these effects have changed across the course of this century. I use nationally-representative data from the 1973 Social Mobility in Australia Project (N = 4939) and 1984 National Social Science Survey (N = 3012) to test my more inclusive and 'gender-sensitive' model of the status attainment process. The results suggest that the status attainment process of men and women is very similar. With the exception of educational attainment, in which mothers influence daughters more than they do sons, there is no evidence of gender-typing within the family: parents are no more likely to influence the educational and occupational attainment of their like-sexed than their opposite- sexed children. Consistent with modernisation theory, education is the most important factor behind occupational success while the direct influence of social background dwindles.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Acker, J. (1973), 'Women and social stratification: A case of intellectual sexism', American Journal of Sociology,78(4):936-45.
2.
Alexander, K.L., B.K. Eckland and L.J. Griffin (1975), 'The Wisconsin Model of Socio-economic Achievement: A Replication', American Journal of Sociology, 81(2):324-342.
3.
Bernstein, B. (1971), Class, Codes and Control: Volume 1 Theoretical Studies towards a Sociology of LanguageLondon, Routledge and Kegan Paul.
4.
Beswick, D. (1987), 'Trends in higher education', in John P. Keeves (Ed.), Australian Education: Review of Recent Research, Sydney: Allen and Unwin: 205-240.
5.
Blau, P.M. and O.D. Duncan (1967), The American Occupational Structure, New York, Wiley.
6.
Bourdieu, P. (1973), 'Cultural reproduction and social reproduction' in R. Brown (ed.), Knowledge, Education and Social Change, London: Tavistock.
7.
Bourdieu, P. (1974), 'The school as a conservative force: scholastic and cultural inequalities' in J. Eggleston (ed.), Contemporary Research in the Sociology of Education , London: Methuen.
8.
Bourdieu, P. and J-C. Passeron (1979), The Inheritors: French Students and Their Relation to Culture, translated by Richard Nice, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.
9.
Bourdieu, P. (1984), Distinction: a social critique of the judgement of taste, Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
10.
Bourdieu, P. (1986), 'The forms of capital', in John G. Richardson (ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, New York: Greenwood: 241-258.
11.
Bowles, S. and H. Gintis (1976), Schooling in Capitalist America: Educational Reform and the Contradictions of Economic Life, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul.
12.
Britten, N. and A. Heath (1983), 'Women, Men and Social Class', in E. Gamarnikow, D. Morgan , J. Purvis, and D. Taylorson (eds), Gender, Class and Work, London: Heinemann.
13.
Broom, L. and F.L. Jones (1976), Opportunity and Attainment in Australia, Canberra, ANU Press.
14.
Broom, L., P. Duncan-Jones, F.L. Jones, P. McDonnell, and T. Williams (1974), Social Mobility in Australia Project [machine readable data file]. Principal investigators, Leonard Broom, Paul Duncan-Jones, Frank Lancaster Jones, Patrick McDonnell and Trevor Williams. Canberra: Leonard Broom et al., Department of Sociology, Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University.
15.
Broom, L., F.L. Jones, P. McDonnell, and T. Williams (1980), The Inheritance of Inequality, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul.
16.
Connell, R.W., D.J. Ashenden, S. Kessler, and G.W. Dowsett (1982), Making The Difference: Schools, Families and Social DivisionsSydney, George Allen and Unwin.
17.
DeJong, P.Y., M.J. Brawer, and S.S. Robin (1971), 'Patterns of Female Intergenerational Occupational Mobility: A Comparison With Male Patterns of Intergenerational Occupational Mobility', American Sociological Review,36:1033-1042.
18.
Duncan, O.D. (1966), 'Path Analysis: Sociological Examples', American Journal of Sociology,72(1):1-16.
19.
Duncan, O.D., D.L. Featherman, and B. Duncan (1972), Socioeconomic Background and Achievement, New York, Seminar Press.
20.
Encel, S. (1970), Equality and Authority: A Study of Class, Status and Power in AustraliaLondon, Tavistock .
21.
Erikson, R. and J.H. Goldthorpe (1992), The Constant Flux: A Study of Class Mobility in Industrial Societies, Oxford, Clarendon Press.
22.
Evans, M.D.R. (1988) 'Working wives in Australia: Influences of the life-cycle, education,and feminist ideology', in J. Kelley and C. Bean (eds), Australian Attitudes: Social and political analyses from the National Social Science Survey, Sydney: Allen & Unwin:147-162
23.
Featherman, D.L., F.L. Jones, and R.M. Hauser (1975), 'Assumptions of Social Mobility Research in the US: The Case of Occupational Status', Social Science Research ,4:329-360.
24.
Floud, J.E., A.H. Halsey and F.M. Martin (1957), Social Class and Educational Opportunity, Westport, Greenwood Press.
25.
Ganzeboom, H.B.G., P.M. De Graaf and D.J. Treiman (1992), 'A Stanard International Socio-Economic Index of Occupational Status', Social Scicnce Research,21:1-56.
26.
Goldthorpe, J.H. (1983), 'Women and Class Analysis: In Defence of the Conventional View', Sociology,17(4):465-485.
27.
Goldthorpe, J.H. (1984), 'Women and Social Class: A Reply to the Replies ', Sociology,18(4):491-499.
28.
Goode, W.J. (1964), The Family, Englewood Cliffs , Prentice-Hall.
29.
Graetz, B. and I. McAllister (1988), Dimensions of Australian Society, Sydney, MacMillan.
30.
Graetz, B. (1987), 'Cohort Changes in Educational Inequality', Social Science Research,16:329-344.
31.
Graetz, B. (1988), 'The Reproduction of Privilege in Australian Education' , The British Journal of Sociology,39(3):359-375.
32.
Hayes, B.C. (1990), 'Intergenerational Occupational Mobility Among Employed and Non-Employed Women: The Australian Case', Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology,26(3): 368-388.
33.
Hayes, B.C. and R.L. Miller (1991), 'Intergenerational Mobility in the Republic of Ireland: Does Gender Make a Difference?'Sociological Quarterly ,32(4):621-635.
34.
Hoffman, L.W. (1972), 'Early childhood experiences and women's achievement motives', Journal of Social Issues,28:129-155.
35.
Hoffman, L.W. (1977), 'Changes in Family Roles, Socialization, and Sex Differences', American Psychologist, August:644-657.
36.
Jencks, C., M. Smith, H. Achland, M.J. Bane, D. Cohen, H. Gintis, B. Heyns, and S. Michelson (1972), Inequality: A Reassessment of the Effect of Family and Schooling in America, New York, Basic Books.
37.
Jones, F.L. and P. Davis (1986), Models of Society: Class, Stratification and Gender in Australia and New ZealandSydney, Croom-Helm.
38.
Kalmijn, M. (1994), 'Mother's Occupational Status and Children's Schooling ', American Sociological Review,59:257-275.
39.
Kelley, J. and C. Bean (1988), 'Editors' Introduction', in J. Kelley and C. Bean (eds), Australian Attitudes: Social and political analyses from the National Social Science Survey, Sydney: Allen & Unwin: xvi-xxiii.
40.
Kelley, J., R.G. Cushing, and B. Headey (1984), Australian National Social Science Survey (Users' Guide and data file)Canberra: Social Science Data Archives, The Australian National University.
41.
Losh-Hesselbart, S. (1987), 'Development of Gender Roles', in M.B. Sussman and S.K. Steinmetz (eds), Handbook of Marriage and the Family, New York: Pelnum Press:535-564.
42.
McClendon, M. (1976), 'The Occupational Attainment Process of Males and Females', American Sociological Review,41:52-64.
43.
Marini, M.M. (1980), 'Sex Differences in the Process of Occupational Attainment: A Closer Look', Social Science Research,9:307-361.
44.
Marjoribanks, K. (1987) 'Family environments and educational achievement' , in John P. Keeves (Ed.), Australian Education: Review of Recent Research, Sydney : Allen and Unwin: 66-89.
45.
Marks, G.N. (1992), 'Ascription versus Achievement in Australia: Changes over Time 1965-1990', Australiall and New Zealand Journal of Sociology,28(3): 330-350.
46.
Parsons, T. and R.F. Bales (1955), Family, socialization and interaction process , Glencoe Illinois: Free Press.
47.
Seber, G.A.F. (1966), The Linear Hypothesis: A General Theory, New York, Macmillan.
48.
Sewell, W., A.O. Haller, and A. Portes (1969), 'The Educational and Early Occupational Status Attainment Process', American Sociological Review,34(1):82-92.
49.
Sewell, W., A.O. Haller, and G. Ohlendorf (1970), 'The Educational and Early Occupational Status Attainment Process: Replication and Revision', American Sociological Review,35(5):1014-1027.
50.
Shavit, Y. and H-P. Blossfeld (1993), 'Persisting Barriers: Changes in Educational Opportunities in Thirteen Countries', Chapter 1, in Y. Shavit and H-P. Blossfeld (eds), Persistent Inequality: Changing Educational Attainment in Thirteen Countries , Boulder: Westview Press: 1-24.
51.
Schroeder, L.D., D.L. Sjoquist, and P.E. Stephan (1986), Understanding Regression Analysis: An Introductory Guide, Newbury Park, Sage.
52.
Spearritt, D. (1987), 'Educational achievement'. in John P. Keeves (ed.), Australian Education: Review of Recent Research, Sydney: Allen and Unwin: 117-146.
53.
Treiman, D.J. (1970), 'Industrialisation and Social Stratification' in E.O. Laumann (ed.), Social Stratification: Research and Trends for the 1970s, Indianapolis: Bobbs Merrill.
54.
Treiman, D.J. and K. Terell (1975), 'Sex and the Process of Status Attainment: A comparison of working men and women', American Journal of Sociology, 40:174-200.
55.
Turner, R.H. (1960), 'Sponsored and Contest Mobility and the School System', American Sociological Review,25:855-867.
56.
Yates, L. (1987) 'Australian Research on Gender and Education 1975-85 ', in John P. Keeves (Ed.), Australian Education: Review of Recent Research, Sydney : Allen and Unwin: 241-268.
