The latest research on most admired professions has just been released. I won’t comment on the data as I am sure you will draw your own conclusions!
The top five and bottom five occupations viewed as having’very great’ prestige:
Top Five
| Firefighters |
63% |
| Doctors |
58 |
| Nurses |
55 |
| Scientists |
54 |
| Teachers |
52 |
These are followed by police officers (43%) and priests/ministers/clergymen (40%).
Bottom Five
| Union leaders |
12% |
| Actors |
12 |
| Business executives |
11 |
| Stockbrokers |
11 |
| Real estate brokers |
6 |
“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.
“…Teachers are the only occupation, among the 11 tracked since 1977, to see a rise in prestige….”
Source: Harris poll “measuring public perceptions of 23 professions and occupations,” conducted July 5-11, 2006.
