The Status Attainment Process: Socialization or Allocation?

A review is presented of the research which has led to the construction of elaborated models of status attainment, noting that the major theoretical thrust in this work has followed a socialization perspective. It is suggested that there are both theoretical and empirical grounds for including in such investigation indices of the effects of allocation as well as socialization. This can be done by incorporating in the models measures of those characteristics used in making allocation decisions as well as through more refined use of contextual analysis. The greatest challenge in such further investigations is to explicate the association between educational attainment and occupational attainment.