Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Utilizing data from a survey of Japanese students enrolled in three Tokyo-area medical schools, this study attempts to ascertain the influence of socioeconomic background variables and parental encouragement on the decision to enter the medical profession. The results reveal considerable influence of such socioeconomic variables as father's educational level, father's occupation, and mother's educational level on career choice. The encouragement of fathers—especially physician fathers—is significant, resulting in a high proportion of students manifesting the pattern of occupational inheritance. The results suggest that the status attainment model is quite relevant to the experiences of Japanese youth and that its applicabilty warrants rigorous testing by a longitudinal study of a much larger sample of Japanese youth.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alexander

K. L.

Eckland

B. K.

Griffin

L. J.

1975

“This Wisconsin model of socioeconomic achievement: A replication”

Amer. J. of Sociology 81: 324–342

Becker

H. S.

Geer

Hughes

E. C.

Strauss

1961 Boys in White. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press

Blau

P. M.

Duncan

O. D.

1967 The American Occupational Structure. New York: John Wiley

Colombotos

Kirchner

forthcoming Physicians View Social Change in Medicine

Duncan

O. D.

Featherman

D. L.

Duncan

1972 Socioeconomic Background and Achievement. New York: Seminar

Fredericks

M. A.

Mundy

1976 The Making of a Physician. Chicago: Loyola Univ. Press

Goyder

J. C.

Curtis

J. E.

1975 “A three-generational approach to trends in occupational mobility”. Amer. J. of Sociology 81: 129–138

Hauser

R. M.

Koffel

J. N.

Travis

H. P.

Dickson

P. J.

1975a “Temporal change in occupational mobility: Evidence for men in the United States”. Amer. Soc. Rev. 40: 279–297

Hauser

R. M.

Koffel

J. N.

Travis

H. P.

Dickson

P. J.

1975b “Structural changes in occupational mobility among men in the United States”. Amer. Soc. Rev. 40: 585–598

10.

Jackson

E. F.

Crockett

H. J.

Jr.

1964 “Occupational mobility in the United States: A point estimate and trend comparison”. Amer. Soc. Rev. 29: 5–15

11.

Japan Private Medical Colleges Association 1977 Dai ikkai Shiritsu Ika Diagaku. Igakubu Gakusei Seikatsu Jittai Chosa Hokokusho (Survey of Medical Students' Life Conditions, Private Medical Colleges, No. 1). Tokyo: Author

12.

Rogoff

1953 Recent Trends in Occupational Mobility. New York: Macmillan

13.

Rogoff

1957 “The decision to study medicine,” pp. 109–129 in Merton

R. K.

(eds.) The Student-Physician. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press

14.

Sewell

W. H.

Hauser

R. M.

1972 “Causes and consequences of higher education: Models of the status attainment process”. Amer. J. of Agricultural Economics 54: 851–861

15.

Sewell

W. H.

Hauser

R. M.

1975 Education, Occupation, and Earnings: Achievement in the Early Career. New York: Academic

16.

Sewell

W. H.

Haller

A. O.

Ohlendorf

G. W.

1970 “The educational and early occupational attainment process: Replication and revision”. Amer. Soc. Rev. 35: 1014–1027

17.

Sewell

W. H.

Haller

A. O.

Portes

1969 “The educational early occupational attainment process”. Amer. Soc. Rev. 34: 82–91

18.

Thielens

Jr.

1957 “Some comparisons of entrants to medical and law school,” pp. 131–152 in Merton

R. K.

(eds.) The Student-Physician. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press

19.

Tominaga

1970 “Trend analysis in social mobility 1955–1965”. Japanese Soc. Rev. 21: 2–23

20.

Tominaga

1973 “Social mobility in Japan—prewar and postwar”. Japanese Interpreter 8: 374–386

21.

Wilson

K. L.

Portes

1975 “The educational attainment process: Results from a national sample”. Amer. J. of Sociology 81: 343–363

Social Background of Japanese Medical Students

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References