6
In the 2000 wave, respondents were asked as to whether they had ever been married (coded as 1=yes, 0=no). It is
proposed herein that marriage will affect the attainment of a profession in a negative manner (e.g., it may detract
from the likelihood of obtaining a college degree). Peers and their respective influence were assessed in several
different manners. Respondents were asked how many of their peers planned to attend college. This item was
coded on a five-point scale, ranging from 1 (none) to 5 (all). As is the case with parents, peers represent strong
potential role models in the lives of adolescents, and it is reasonable to assume that those individuals whose peers
plan to continue their education will follow suit, and adjust their own aspirations and plans to do the same. Peers can
potentially affect others within their ranks in regard to aspirations and the development of status attainment goals. In
order to more clearly differentiate between positive (i.e., those which might enhance the status attainment of young
adults) and negative influences, a combination of measures were developed. Respondents were asked how much
importance their close friends placed on various activities. One resulting measure, positive peers values, results from
the combined responses to how much importance close friends placed on: 1) attending classes regularly, 2) studying,
3) getting good grades, 4) finishing high school, and 5) continuing their education past high school (Cronbach’s
alpha for this item was 0.85). In contrast, negative peer values results from the combined responses to how much
importance close friends placed on: 1) going to parties, 2) having sex, 3) using drugs, and 4) drinking alcohol
(Cronbach’s alpha for this item was 0.77). In order to accurately assess the outlook and aspirations of young adults,
respondents were asked in the 1992 wave about their life expectations. Responses were taken from questions asking
“Think about your future. What do you think are the chances that you will have a) graduated from high school, b) go
to college, c) have a job that pays well?” Responses were coded as very low (1) to very high (5). Finally, since
status attainment has been linked to ethnic group membership (e.g., Blair et al., 1999; Mao and Biko, 2000), dummy
measures are utilized for African-American and Hispanic ethnicity (coded as 1=yes, 0=no).
Results
Table 1 presents the mean levels of occupational status among young adults, as sorted by the sex of the
respondent. Among full-time workers, there are several very obvious differences in regard to the occupational paths
of women and men. In terms of representation within a professional job, substantially more females (25.5%) than
Convention