The social distribution of youth's images of work

The extent and manner in which youth's description of work reflects their location in the social structure is explored using face-to-face structured interview responses from 1,209 17-year-olds. In this paper we will show that social class is the primary organizing principle when youth look at their parents' work, whereas it is gender with respect to their own expected work. Finally, the work of a homemaker remains relatively amorphous. The fundamental cognitive principle when youth looks at parental occupations is an evaluative one, contrasting desirable with undesirable work characteristics. This evaluative opposition evaporates when youth think about their own future jobs, except among working-class boys, who are more likely to expect work with undesirable characteristics.