Career mobility dynamics

Abstract

"The study analyzes and compares career mobility processes in three societies: the United States, Norway, and West Germany. The empirical analyses are based on retrospective life history data for Black American, White American, Norwegian, and German men born around 1930.<br> The analyses address the question of intragenerational status attainment and the question of convergence or divergence of mobility processes across industrial nations. For both questions, the research yields new results. (1) Career mobility must be conceptualized as an interplay between structural determinants (the institutional and economic environment) and individual attributes. (2) Career mobility dynamics are dissimilar across the three nation states, a result which runs counter to the assumption that mobility processes are largely invariant across nations once macroeconomic conditions are controlled. The convergence theory can, however, be supported once those job transitions are isolated that lead to distinctive gains in occupational prestige." (Author's abstract) ((en))

Cite article

Allmendinger, J. (1989): Career mobility dynamics. A comparative analysis of the United States, Norway and West Germany. (Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung. Studien und Berichte 49), Berlin, 169 p.