Firefighters, doctors, and nurses are seen as prestigious occupations by U.S. adults, while business executives, stockbrokers and real estate agents are seen at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to having prestigious occupations.
These are some of the results of the annual Harris Poll measuring public perceptions of 23 professions and occupations, conducted by telephone between July 5 and 11 by Harris Interactive among a nationwide sample of 1,020 U.S. adults.
Six occupations are perceived to have "very great" prestige by at least half of all adults - firefighters (63 percent), doctors (58 percent), nurses (55 percent), scientists (54 percent), teachers (52 percent) and military officers (51 percent). They are followed by police officers (43 percent) and priests/ministers/clergymen (40 percent).
By way of contrast, the list includes nine occupations which are perceived by less than 20 percent of adults to have "very great" prestige, with one of these under 10 percent. The lowest ratings for "very great prestige" go to real estate brokers (6 percent), stockbrokers (11 percent), business executives (11 percent), actors (12 percent), union leaders (12 percent), journalists (12 percent) bankers (17 percent), accountants (17 percent), and entertainers (18 percent).
This year, farmers were included on the list of occupations for the first time. Just over one-third of adults (36 percent) say that farming is an occupation of very great prestige, while 15 percent say it has hardly any prestige at all.
There are three occupations that are perceived by one-quarter or more of adults to have "hardly any prestige at all." These include union leaders (25 percent), real estate brokers (32 percent) and actors (37 percent).
Changes over the last quarter-century
Harris Interactive has been asking about the prestige of different professions and occupations since 1977. Over the 29 years since then, there have been some interesting changes:
* Those who see teachers as having "very great" prestige has risen 23
points from 29 to 52 percent.
* Those who say lawyers have "very great" prestige has fallen 15 points,
from 36 to 21 percent.
* Scientists have fallen 12 points from 66 to 54 percent.
* Business executives have fallen seven points from 18 to 11 percent.
* Doctors have fallen three points from 61 to 58 percent.
* Athletes have also fallen three points from 26 to 23 percent.
Teachers are the only occupation, among the 11 tracked since 1977, to see a rise in prestige.
Changes since last year
* Firefighters have risen seven points from 56 to 63 percent. Over the
past two years, they have risen a total of 15 points from 48 to 63
percent.
* Nurses have risen five points from 50 to 55 percent.
* Teachers have risen five points from 31 to 26 percent.
TABLE 1
PRESTIGE OF 23 PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS "I am going to read off a number of different occupations. For each, would you tell me if you feel it is an occupation of very great prestige, considerable prestige, some prestige or hardly any prestige at all?"
"
Base: All Adults
Hardly
Very Any Not
Great Considerable Some Prestige Sure/
Prestige Prestige Prestige At All Refused
% % % % %
Firefighter 63 23 11 3 -
Doctor 58 30 10 1 1
Nurse 55 24 17 4 -
Scientist 54 26 15 4 *
Teacher 52 22 20 6 *
Military officer 51 30 16 3 1
Police officer 43 26 26 4 1
Priest/Minister/Clergyman 40 28 24 7 1
Farmer 36 21 26 15 1
Engineer 34 35 26 4 1
Member of Congress 28 23 31 17 1
Architect 27 24 33 19 1
Athlete 23 24 33 19 1
Lawyer 21 23 36 20 *
Entertainer 18 23 37 22 *
Accountant 17 30 40 11 1
Banker 17 29 43 11 1
Journalist 16 27 41 16 *
Union Leader 12 21 38 25 3
Actor 12 13 37 37 1
Business executive 11 30 43 15 1
Stockbroker 11 25 42 22 1
Real estate agent/broker 6 17 44 32 1
TABLE 2
29-YEAR TREND FOR "VERY GREAT" PRESTIGE "I am going to read off a number of different occupations. For each, would you tell me if you feel it is an occupation of very great prestige, considerable prestige, some prestige or hardly any prestige at all?"
"
Base: All Adults
1977 1982 1992 1997 1998 2000 2001
% % % % % % %
Firefighter*** NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Doctor 61 55 50 52 61 61 61
Nurse NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Scientist 66 59 57 51 55 56 53
Teacher 29 28 41 49 53 53 54
Military officer NA 22 32 29 34 42 40
Police Officer ** NA NA 34 36 41 38 37
Priest/Minister/ Clergyman 41 42 38 45 46 45 43
Farmer NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Engineer 34 30 37 32 34 32 36
Member of Congress NA NA 24 23 25 33 24
Architect NA NA NA NA 26 26 28
Athlete 26 20 18 21 20 21 22
Lawyer 36 30 25 19 23 21 18
Entertainer 18 16 17 18 19 21 20
Accountant NA 13 14 18 17 14 15
Banker 17 17 17 15 18 15 16
Journalist 17 16 15 15 15 16 18
Union leader NA NA 12 14 16 16 17
Actor NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Business executive** 18 16 19 16 18 15 12
Stockbroker NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Real estate broker/agent NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Changes
since
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 1977
% % % % % %
Firefighter*** NA 55 48 56 63 NA
Doctor 50 52 52 54 58 -3
Nurse NA 47 44 50 55 NA
Scientist 51 57 52 56 54 -12
Teacher 47 49 48 47 52 23
Military officer 47 46 47 49 51 NA
Police Officer ** 40 42 40 40 43 NA
Priest/Minister/ Clergyman 36 38 32 36 40 -1
Farmer NA NA NA NA 36 NA
Engineer 34 28 29 34 34 0
Member of Congress 27 30 31 26 28 NA
Architect 27 24 20 27 27 NA
Athlete 21 17 21 23 23 -3
Lawyer 15 17 17 18 21 -15
Entertainer 19 17 16 18 18 0
Accountant 13 15 10 13 17 NA
Banker 15 14 15 15 17 0
Journalist 19 15 14 14 16 -1
Union leader 14 15 16 15 12 NA
Actor NA 13 16 16 12 NA
Business executive** 18 18 19 15 11 -7
Stockbroker NA 8 10 8 11 NA
Real estate broker/agent NA 6 5 9 6 NA
* No trend; NA not asked
** In surveys prior to 2001 we used the words "policeman" (now changed to
"police officer") and businessman (now changed to "business
executive") which may account for the changes from 2001 to 2002.
*** In surveys prior to 2006, we used the word "fireman" (now changed to
firefighter) which may account for some of the changes from 2005 to
2006.