It is widely taught that one should never compare people to one another, since it is a healthier perspective to acknowledge the unique strengths and weaknesses of every individual. However, it is quite common for people to compare themselves to others based on perceptions of social status (usually when it comes to level of education and income). In fact, this old study from 2012 suggests that people can affect their own chances at landing a great job by putting too much focus on their own self-perceived socioeconomic status. Following are the five main classifications of social status:
- Lower Class/Unemployed – These are usually part time or full-time employees that have attained at the very least a high school education. Their salary is pegged at less than $10,000 per year.
- Working Class – Identified as “blue-collar” workers, these people usually fill clerical roles for their employers. In terms of educational attainment, they have usually taken at least a few college classes and may even have finished a vocational course or earned an associate degree. They earn between $10,000 to $30,000 every year.
- Lower Middle Class – These workers fill out sales jobs and other professional support roles. Usually, they have graduated at least a bachelor’s course in college and make between $30,000 to $70,000 annually.
- Upper Middle Class – Business professionals with graduate degrees usually make up this bracket. They are expected to be earning between $70,000 to $100,000 per year.
- Upper Class – Those who have attained the highest levels of educational achievement reside in the upper class. These people usually maintain upper management or executive roles and make upwards of $100,000 every year.
Educational and financial attainment varies greatly from one class to another and can be a great source of pride or regret, depending on which side of the spectrum one stands on. Obviously, education has a profound effect on one’s ability to take on high level, high paying jobs – but when a person feels limited or empowered due to the way they view themselves on a social scale, it can also have an effect on where and how people work. It is common to see people with poor perceptions of themselves have a hard time leaving unemployment because they may think of themselves as incapable or undeserving of certain types of work. Other times, people assume they would not fit in a company they would have otherwise loved to check out simply by perceiving the way they would fit in with the people already working there.
Though it is impossible to totally eradicate the idea of social class structure, people should realize that jobs should go to those who carry the best ability to perform the job, and not because someone belongs to a certain social class. Understanding this will make it easier for anyone to overlook social status and focus more on skill and knowledge requirements when planning for work opportunities in the future. At the end of the day, social status should never make anyone feel inferior or superior to anyone else – because anybody can be successful by working hard and striving for perfection every single day at work.
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