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Recent studies of status attainment have relied heavily in the general linear model. In the relationship between status and education, important departures from linearity may occur as a result of certification screening (of preference) by employers; yet many researchers have virtually ignored this process and the possibility that it may serve several functions. Data from the 1977 NORC General Social Survey show that academic certification has a substantial impact on occupational prestige and (more ambiguously) on respondent's income, independently of years of school completed and other predictors; this impact appears to vary according to age of respondent. In conclusion, the status-attainment proces in the United States may depart substantially from the "rational choice" model favored by human capital theory.
A. Michael (Sun,) studied this question.