Surrey Occupational Scale

Surrey Occupational Scale Definition

The Surrey occupational scale is a method developed by a team of sociologists at the University of Surrey in Great Britain for classifying the overall occupational structure. A defining characteristic of this scale is its method of classification, which separates occupations based on the sex of the majority of the workers, thereby revealing gendered patterns within the workforce. The resulting data clearly illustrate that men predominate in both the upper and lower occupational groups, while women are concentrated in the intermediate group.

Structure of Occupational Classes

The Surrey group devised a specific set of eight occupational classes to represent this structure:

1. Higher professionals
2. Employers and managers
3. Lower professionals
4. Secretarial and clerical
5. Foremen; self-employed manual
6. Sales and skilled manual
7. Semiskilled
8. Unskilled