Firefighters, Doctors and Nurses Top List as "Most Prestigious Occupations," According to Latest Harris Poll

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, 2006, 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%), doctors (58%), nurses (55%), scientists (54%), teachers (52%) and military officers (51%). They are followed by police officers (43%) and priests/ministers/clergymen (40%).

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%), stockbrokers (11%), business executives (11%), actors (12%), union leaders (12%), journalists (16%) bankers (17%), accountants (17%), and entertainers (18%).

This year, farmers were included on the list of occupations for the first time. Just over one-third of adults (36%) 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%), real estate brokers (32%) and actors (37%).

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.

• 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.

"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

"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

* 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.

Methodology
The Harris Poll^® was conducted by telephone within the United States between July 5 and 11, 2006 among a nationwide cross section of 1,020 adults (aged 18 and over). Note: respondents were asked about only 10-11 occupations each, on a rotating basis. Figures for age, sex, race, education, and region were weighted where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population.

All surveys are subject to several sources of error. These include: sampling error (because only a sample of a population is interviewed); measurement error due to question wording and/or question order, deliberately or unintentionally inaccurate responses, nonresponse (including refusals), interviewer effects (when live interviewers are used) and weighting.

With one exception (sampling error) the magnitude of the errors that result cannot be estimated. There is, therefore, no way to calculate a finite "margin of error" for any survey and the use of these words should be avoided.

With pure probability samples, with 100 percent response rates, it is possible to calculate the probability that the sampling error (but not other sources of error) is not greater than some number. With a pure probability sample of 1,020 adults one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/-3 percentage points. However that does not take other sources of error into account.

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