Educational and Occupational Choice: A Synthesis of Literature from Sociology and Psychology

Abstract

Major theories about educational and occupational attainment have stressed the final choices as the results of a development process. Many empirical studies have demonstrated that the major influences on educational and occupational attainments are socioeconomic origins, intelligence, race, and sex. A review of findings about these factors, the family, schools, and other mediating variables is presented in which the problems of research are stressed, particularly the inadequacies of studies that ignore factors such as the demand for labor and business cycles.