A similarity index for all occupations

Bibliographic Data

ID7998328
AuthorsAnanda Martin-Caughey (0000-0003-0588-9980, Brown University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume101
Pages101113-101113
Publication date2025-12-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueResearch in Social Stratification and Mobility (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0276-5624 • E-ISSN: 1878-5654
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.rssm.2025.101113
OpenAlexW4416919504
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited56

Occupations are a critical theoretical concept in the social sciences, but they are difficult to operationalize and often internally heterogeneous, posing challenges for researchers. This has led some scholars to question the value of occupations in inequality and mobility research. This paper introduces the occupational similarity index (OSI) as a tool to help understand and overcome the limitations of occupation-based research. The index directly measures the internal cohesion of occupations based on previously untapped descriptions of job titles and tasks from the 2011–2023 American Community Survey, representing approximately 20 million workers. I demonstrate three applications of the OSI: improving the measurement of occupations, explaining occupation-level phenomena, and investigating the social meaning of occupations. Analyses generate several empirical findings, including: (1) occupations vary widely in internal similarity, with some occupations highly cohesive and others no more similar than a random sample of workers, (2) higher similarity is associated with lower earnings inequality, particularly among college-educated workers, and (3) in most occupations, similarity is higher within gender groups than for the occupation as a whole, suggesting substantial segregation. I make the OSI publicly available and show how measuring and studying the internal similarity of categories of work can strengthen occupation-related research for the 21st century.

Cohesion (chemistry) · Earnings · Index (typography) · Meaning (existential) · Operationalization · Sample (material) · Similarity (geometry) · Value (mathematics) · Medical Education and Admissions · Occupational Therapy Practice and Research · Psychometric Methodologies and Testing

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