Status attainment

In sociology, status attainment or status attainment theory deals largely with one's position in society, or class. Status attainment is affected by both achieved factors, such as educational attainment, and ascribed factors, such as family income. It is achieved by a combination of parents' status and one's own efforts and abilities. The idea behind status attainment is that one can be mobile, either upwardly or downwardly, in the form of a class system. In sociology, status attainment or status attainment theory deals largely with one's position in society, or class. Status attainment is affected by both achieved factors, such as educational attainment, and ascribed factors, such as family income. It is achieved by a combination of parents' status and one's own efforts and abilities. The idea behind status attainment is that one can be mobile, either upwardly or downwardly, in the form of a class system. Peter M. Blau (1918–2002) and Otis Duncan (1921–2004) were the first sociologists to isolate the concept of status attainment. Their initial thesis stated that the lower the level from which a person starts, the greater is the probability that he will be upwardly mobile, simply because many more occupational destinations entail upward mobility for men with low origins than for those with high ones. After continued research, the initial statement proved to be incorrect. Blau and Duncan realized that people couldn't possibly think that the best way to get a high-social status position is to start at the bottom. They continued to find that the flaw was in the question the information was based upon. They found their research shouldn't be founded upon the question of 'How are people mobile' but on 'how do people attain their statuses'. Peter Blau and Otis Duncan continued to conduct a landmark research study to provide answers to their new question.. There are two similar working models in regards to status attainment theory. As Haller & Portes (1973) noted there is the Blau and Duncan's (1967) model which focuses on status transmission, that there is some direct effect of parental influence. However, ultimately the level of education affects occupational attainment. Also, the Wisconsin model comes to similar conclusion however notes that the effects of parental status vanish when other factors are considered. (Haller & Portes, 1973). The occupation of household heads, their level of education, and household income are highly correlated with status attainment and capital. A strong indicator that points to the variation of status attainment is measured through various standardised achievement tests, that reflect academic aptitude. Therefore, the ascribed ability and relation to the constellation of household, strongly affects educational attainment. Academic performance and aptitude carries an influence on status attainment since the highest level of education attained, is a strong predictor of an individual's future occupational positions and the type of work they qualify for.