07 November 2023

Which Occupations Are Prone To Dynasties

In which occupations are current practitioners most likely to have had a parent who practiced the same occupation?

My observation is that dynastic career paths are closely associated with careers that are low paying in early years or for average performers, but are high pay in late years (or provide other unique rewards in late years) or for elite performers only. In these professions exposure to a late career parents or an elite performer parent makes those possibilities seem real enough for children to cling to that dream, while others tend to see the prospects of big rewards from such a career as too speculative to commit to pursuing.

Among particularly dynastic professions fitting this pattern are politics, military officer service, medicine, sports, and the performing arts. Professions where average performers are paid well and early career work does not pay much less than late career work, like IT and nursing, in contrast, are far less dynastic.

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