What Makes a Job Prestigious, According to the Society?
we all know that certain job has a higher position/ more prestigious in our society, even though, the other jobs deserve to be noticed.
Hello, Buddy! Happy Saturday, hope you’re feeling okay !!
Let's talk about job prestigious and how society make the class categorization of certain jobs. But first, MY FIRST ANTHOLOGY IS LIVE.
I've been working with this anthology for the past few weeks and this path is truly a wild one for me. However, the content-making process took a lifetime because summoning the nerve to write everything down was surely a huge obstacles for me.
Amid of the chaos, broken words, and unsolicited advices, I'm glad that this surreal fantasy can finally turn into a reality. Here, I present for you guys my very first Anthology, "Resonance". I have curated 10 pieces of stories, hopefully worthy of your time to delve into each thread of the tapestry.
You can download this piece by clicking this link. The PDF will automatically be sent to you e-mail and every time I publish something new, you will receive that piece in your inbox. And I respect your privacy, you can unsubscribe anytime you want.
Now, let’s go to the topics!
I met my friend the other day for a coffee conversation, like any other coffee conversation. Nothing special and nothing fun to discuss at the beginning, just a girls-talk topic and some tearing part in our work life. Long after that chit-chat topics, I began to stir the conversation about regional minimum wage. Oh yes, the source of this topic is how come policeman receive higher salary than teachers? This silly question is probably not a million-dollar in workplace, because we already have the most terrible one, for instance, universal basic income.
“Don’t you think it’s terrible for someone to get paid because of their spending ability in that region?” I asked to her. By the way, she holds a social bachelor degree. “It might be not fair for us, but it’s worth of debate. I kinda feel that the wage system should be redefined. Of course, it’s not a good comparison between spending ability or basic needs payment to the skill or work we deliver to the company we work for.” she replied with serious tone.
“Basic needs payment, I think, it’s fair to pay someone who just enters the workplace with a minimum wage. What bothers me mostly is why do some jobs get paid much more than other jobs? Is there any class for society to categorize that?” she nodded and suddenly answered me, “I think, yes. There’s a class categorization for job in our society, it’s like unconsciously deep rooted in our society. Like for example, doctor. This job need a commitment to learn in college and the society praise for the value they deliver. And, this job isn’t replaceable, like everyone can do that, no. But, there are other jobs that probably won’t need extra education and probably replaceable.” She said.
Although the word replaceable is too frank to said, but I agree with her statement. Let’s put aside salary for a while.
Class categorization in society is truly happen and it’s undoubtedly too hard to tear down the wall. My friend’s statement about education and value are two points which is very true. The concept of categorization or prestigious measures the society-class positions may achieve by practicing certain occupations. There is this concept called Social Return on Investment (SROI) to measure the social value by different jobs. This concepts measures how effective the occupation in creating beneficial changes for everyone involved.
The definition of class categorization for jobs in society is nothing too obvious, I mean, there’s no single definition towards that. However, traditional view values some jobs more prestigious than others, for example, law, doctor, banking, police, military. And, sometimes, these prestigious jobs doesn’t determine the salary. In other point, it relates to the social return or the value it delivers to community.
Well, can we say that job categorization is an act of measuring social-class positions of different work?
Then, how does society determine the prestige of a job? Here’s, let’s make a list on how the society make that categorization:
Education: Jobs that require advanced education or specialized training are often viewed as more prestigious, because they indicate a high level of expertise and knowledge.
Social Usefulness: Jobs that have a desirability of socioeconomic rewards tend to be more prestigious.
Income/Job security: High paying jobs are often perceived as more prestigious because they appeal with more financial security and success. People in my hometown believe that by being PNS, our life will be fine forever.
My friend adds one list which is the acceptance rate to get the job. The harder the process, the better the society sees us. There is also another part of this prestigious symbol, which I think very subjective, which is collective belief of its worthiness. I’d argue that this collective belief is presumably based on the situation for each generation. For example, being PNS in this country is a pride to a family. It’s because our parents see this job as a job which has passed many economic tragedies. This strong collective belief brainwashes many young generations to this day, but at the end of the day, many young generations wants this job. It’s because job security and it’s so hard to get job to this moment.
And now, let’s talk about the salary or the minimum wage we get paid by doing our job
The New Economics Foundation (NEP) found that people who earn more don’t necessarily work harder than those who earn less. A job which gives a lot of meaning to the society but receive less admirable from society is parents, so shout out to all the parents here. Based on the research conducted by A Bit Rich said that every one pound that goes to residential child care generates between 4 to six pounds. A cleaner’s job delivers more worth than bankers, tax accountants destroyed more value than anyone else, for every 47 pounds destroyed for every one pound created.
Out of six jobs across the private and public sectors, divided by the salary they received, NEP found that the contributions given to the society produced more by the lower-paid jobs not the high-paid jobs. It’s difficult to contemplate the conclusion, but I think it’s worth of the debate. High salaries don’t necessarily reflect talent, and those who work for private sector are not necessarily work efficient than the public sector.
Well, then, can social worth be the central value to redefined the wage schema? Or can social worth reshape the way we look at different careers in our society?
My friend said the society relation is one of the most hard topics to discuss because there are lots of variables inside that need to be discussed too. Her interest about psychology and mental health are drives me crazy every time she starts with new case studies of online mental health nowadays or Gen Z’s mental health, and to the most sensitive thoughts: suicidal thoughts. It’s a blessing to have a friend who shares the same interest of topics.
I would like to know your opinion about this topic. You can hit the reply button here, or just send me an e-mail. Here’s my e-mail: bintangmelva9@gmail.com
Here's what I read and watch this week:
Profil Bahlil Lahadalia: Dari Sopir Sampai Menteri Investasi
Hidden Potential by Adam Grant.
A Global Mental Health Report Card from Vox section Future Perfect
Source:
Freedman, H. (2009, December 30). What’s the social worth of your job? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/careers/careers-blog/the-social-worth-of-your-job-harry-freedman
Mohammed, F. (2017). What makes a career prestigious? JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/makes-career-prestigious/
Wikipedia contributors. (2024, March 5). Occupational prestige. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_prestige
Admin. (2017, July 27). Assessing the ‘Social value’ of occupations. Graham Scambler. https://www.grahamscambler.com/assessing-the-social-value-of-occupations/
Well, you’ve reached the end of the story today.
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