Abstract
This study represents a further examination of the relative importance of social origin and educational measures in the occupational status attainment of former college students. The study is longitudinal and is based on a causal model that incorporates multiple measures of students' precollege characteristics, the undergraduate institutions they attended, and their performance and experiences within these institutions. Separate analyses were performed for those employed in professional and nonprofessional occupations. The results suggest a basic distinction between the characteristics of undergraduate institutions and students' performance and experiences within those institutions that are most influential in the occupational status attainment process for those employed in professional and nonprofessional positions. Occupational status attainment in professional careers appears to be influenced more by cognitive attributes of the college attended and the students' educational performance, whereas the attainment process in nonprofessional careers appears to be influenced more by affective attributes of the collegiate experience.
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Smart, J.C. College effects on occupational status attainment. Res High Educ 24, 73–95 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00973743
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00973743