Disparity in Higher Education

The reliance on educational level as an indicator of social class becomes more problematic when one considers the huge variety of colleges in the United States. There are vocational schools, junior colleges, four-year colleges, and universities. Some colleges prepare individuals for specific careers, whereas others emphasize the development of intellectual and life skills. Religiously oriented colleges focus on development of the spirit and the teaching of theology as well as academic material. Some colleges encourage their students to pursue graduate degrees, whereas others assist middle-aged people in returning to college after long absences from the academic sphere.

Cost of Higher Education

As the quality of higher education varies, so does the cost of attending college. Even if our federal government completely subsidized the cost of a college education, as governments in some countries do, the financial circumstances of some individuals would preclude them from seeking higher education.

Occupation

Occupational prestige is very subjective and varies from country to country. In the United States, as in most industrialized societies, jobs requiring extensive schooling and intellectual acuity, and that afford the greatest degrees of professional autonomy, are considered the most prestigious. These occupations include:

  • Physicians
  • Judges
  • University professors
  • CEOs

Jobs requiring manual labor, or in which a person serves or cleans up after others, tend to be low-prestige occupations:

  • Mechanic
  • Truck driver
  • Maid
  • Janitor

Prestigious jobs are not always the easiest jobs to hold. The occupation of physician is very prestigious but requires a long and expensive education, very long hours, and unpredictable lawsuits from litigious patients. Electricians also spend years in specialized training before they can become licensed. Electricians generally have reliable, steady income. They don’t have to work the 24-hour shifts that doctors do. Unionized electricians have additional job security and receive benefits that physicians in private practice must provide for themselves. Still, physicians enjoy a higher prestige.

Despite the cautions detailed below, occupation tells us the most about a person. Knowing what somebody does for a living gives us an approximate idea of the extent of his or her education and provides us with a very rough estimate of how much money he or she makes.

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