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Nous presentons ici un nouvel index socio-economique des occupations, base sur le recensement de 1981. Il est generalement admis que l'occupation est le meilleur indicateur de statut socio-economique, mais l'importance accordee au prestige, au revenu et a leducation dans la hierarchisation des occupations demeure matiere a debats. Pour cet index, nous avons decide d'accorder un poids egal aux niveaux d’education et de revenu, en rant que composantes additives du statut socio-economique. Aussi, pour fins de continuite, nous avons calibre l ‘index sur la base de l echelle Pineo-Porter de prestige. This article presents a socioeconomic index for the total Canadian labour force, based on 1981 Census data. It also reviews the problems and criticisms of indexes of this kind, and attempts to specify the meaning of socioeconomic scales and the uses to which they may be legitimately put. The present index is most applicable in situations where access to data is limited to occupational titles and where one desires a unidimensional contextual indicator which locates individuals in the Canadian occupational structure at a given point in time. Sociological analysis of structured inequality, however, may be advanced most effectively if, where feasible, a full range of methodological options is considered, including the assessment of conditions on the level of the individual, the use of other contextual levels such as the workplace, and the investigation of occupation, gender and class as interdependent historical products.

Cet article illustre le niveau des differences regionales et provinciates qui existent dans la distribution de classe entre ceux qui sont nes au pays et des immigrants qui arriverent au Canada avant 1946 et durant la periode 1946–1961. En utilisant un index socio-economique compose de trois cent vingt (320) occupations, on etablit six classes sociales. Au Quebec et dans les provinces de l'Atlantique, ceux qui sont nes au pays sont quelque peu sous-representes dans les trois classes superieures, tandis que les immigrants venant des Etats-Unis, du Royaume-Uni, et de l'Allemagne sont sur-representes. Par ailleurs, ceux qui sont nes au Canada sont sur-representes dans la province de 1'Ontario et dans les provinces de 1'Ouest. Les immigrants americains qui emigrerent au Canada durant la periode de I'apres-guerre, sont substantiellement plus sur-representes dans les trois classes superieures que tout autre groupe d'emigrants. lis sont suivis, en cela, par les emigrants d'apres-guerre du Royaume-Uni. Ce sont les principales conclusions de l'auteur. This paper shows the extent to which regional and provincial differences exist in the class distribution of native-born and immigrants who arrived before 1946 and between 1946 and 1961. Using six classes based upon a socioeconomic index of 320 occupations the author shows that in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec, the Canadian-born are slightly underrepresented in the three top classes. Immigrants from the United States, tie United Kingdom and Germany are overrepresented. In Ontario and the Western provinces, the Canadian-born are overrepresented. The postwar immigrants from the United States have a substantially higher degree of overrepresentation in the three top classes than any other immigrant group, followed by postwar immigrants from the United Kingdom.

Ce travail elabore un index socio-economique pour les femmes qui sont emThe Vendeeloyees, base sur les niveaux pridominants d'education et de revenu dans 465 professions exercees par des femmes en 1970. L'index ainsi que ses deux composantes sont alors utilises dans une comparaison de la structure socio-economique de la main-d'oeuvre masculine et feminine qui fait usage d'un index semblable pour les hommes tel que rapporte par Blishen et McRoberts (1976). Nous avons trouve que pour les 465 professions, il y a une ressemblance tres proche entre les hommes et les femmes quant A la stratification professionnelle selon le niveau d'education mais qu'il y a des differences considerables reliees au sexe lorsqu'il s'agit de la stratification selon le revenu. Les moyennes des points en matiere socio-economique pour les hommes et les femmes qui sont employes etaient presque identiques mais ce resultat, loin de prouver qu'il y a egalite des sexes, souligne en fait une faiblesse de base de I'index tel qu'employe dans I'etude de la stratification des sexes. En combinant de faqon additive I'education et les niveaux de revenu pour chaque sexe, l'index dissimule le fait que les femmes ont en general tendance a toucher moins de revenu que les hommes mais elles se retrouvent dans des professions reliees a des niveaux d'education plus eleves. Nos resultats viennent s'ajouter a la litterature sur la discrimination des sexes dans la structure professionnelle et constituent une mise en garde contre I'usage exclusif d'index socio-economiques bases sur les professions dans I'etude de la stratification des sexes. This paper develops a socioeconomic index for employed women, based upon predominant education and income levels in 465 occupations having female incumbents in 1970. The index and its two components are then employed in a comparison of the socioeconomic structure of male and female labour forces, which makes use of an analogous index for men, reported by Blishen and McRoberts (1976). We find that, across the 465 occupations, there is a close similarity between men and women respecting occupational stratification by education level, but there are considerable sex differences in the pattern of stratification by income. Mean socioeconomic scores for employed men and women are found to be nearly identical, but this result, far from evidencing sexual equality, actually points up a basic weakness in the index as employed in the study of sexual stratification. In additively combining education and income levels for each sex, the index obscures the fact that women tend to receive generally less income than men, but are situated in occupations having relatively higher education levels. Our results add to the literature on sexual discrimination in the occupational structure and caution against the exclusive use of occupationally based socioeconomic indices in the study of sexual stratification.

There has been a continuing interest in the measurement of the social status of occupations. Perhaps the most widely known index has been the so-called North-Hatt scale based on the evaluations of some ninety occupations by a sample of the American population in 1947, carried out under the auspices of the National Opinion Research Center in Chicago.1 A 1963 replication of this study by NORC using better methods and an extended list of occupations was recently reported by Hodge, Siegel, and Rossi.2 Similar, although usually more modest, studies have been carried out in a number of other countries, including Great Britain, New Zealand, Japan, and Germany.3

The construction and use of occupational scales to serve as an index of social class have recently absorbed much of the time of sociologists in the United States. In Canada, on the other hand, very few studies of this nature have been published. This paper will outline the method used in the construction of such a scale, and the results obtained when it is applied to certain features of Canadian society.The problems involved in the methodology of studies of stratification result partly from the lack of agreement among sociologists on a theoretical framework in this field, and partly from the lack of precise tools of measurement. The theoretical difficulties involved can be seen from an examination of four main lines of theoretical development in the works of Marx, Weber, Warner, Davis, and Parsons.The individual's position in the system of production was seen by Marx as the fundamental determinant of class position. A subjective awareness of class is another vital element in his theory although such awareness follows from the objective position. The objective economic foundation of class is an important aspect of Max Weber's theory also, but unlike Marx, Weber gives equal importance to subjective awareness, and he shows the importance of power as well. The approach of W. L. Warner, which has been followed by so many sociologists, emphasizes the subjective awareness and claims that class is what people in the community say it is. It is the consensus of people about other people's position, and about the class divisions in the social structure.