Commentary

Occupations That Give Your Headline Status

Occupations That Give Your Headline Status

According to the Harris Poll in August, 2002, the number of people who assign high prestige to military officers and police officers has increased from the August 2001 survey, fielded just before 9/11. At the same time, this year’s survey finds significant drops in prestige for doctors, teachers, and the clergy.

Some of the key findings of this survey include:

- Scientists (51%) and doctors (50%) continue to top the list of professions that are thought to have "very great prestige." And most people think that they have either very great or considerable prestige. However, there has been a significant decline in the perception of doctors; last year fully 61% (compared to 50% now) thought they had "very great prestige."

- Forty-seven percent of adults think that military officers and teachers have "very great prestige" while 74% think that military officers and 70% think that teachers have "considerable" or "very great prestige." Last year the numbers saying "very great prestige" was six points higher for teachers (54%) and seven points lower for military officers (40%).

- Police officers have also recorded a modest improvement, from 37% saying that they have "very great prestige" to 40% this year.

- The scandals in the Roman Catholic Church concerning child abuse also seem to have taken a toll. Those who say ministers or clergymen have "very great prestige" have fallen seven points, from 43% last year to 36% now.

- Accountants (only 13% saying "very great prestige"), union leaders (14%), lawyers (15%) and bankers (15%) get the lowest marks of those included in the study.

All the previous surveys asked about the prestige of the "businessman." This year the question was changed to "business executive" and the results have improved sharply from 12% to 18%. Given what has been happening on Wall Street and in corporate boardrooms from Enron to WorldCom, it seems unlikely that this is a real change. More likely, "business executives" sounds a little better to some people than "businessman."

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