The No. 1 Job With No Respect

Read this on Netscape.com and liked what I read. You guess why. :P
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It's not about money or celebrity. And it's not even about getting your hands dirty. The job with the least prestige is: stockbroker.

That's the word from a just-updated nationwide Harris Poll of 1,217 randomly selected adults that measures Americans' perception of the most and least prestigious professions. It's easy to see that money and celebrity do not necessarily equal prestige. If they did, actors, journalists and real estate brokers wouldn't be on the bottom of the list and firefighters, scientists, doctors and nurses wouldn't be near the top. Rather, prestige is strongly associated with respect and helping others. Professions with high prestige are those which are widely seen to do great work which benefits society and the people they serve.

The professions with the greatest prestige and the percentage of people who think so:
· Firemen (56 percent)
· Scientists (56 percent)
· Doctors (54 percent)
· Nurses (50 percent)
· Military officers (49 percent)
· Teachers (47 percent)
· Police officers (40 percent)
· Priests/ministers/clergymen (36 percent)
· Engineers (34 percent)
· Architects (27 percent)
· Members of Congress (26 percent)
· Athletes (23 percent)

The professions with the least prestige and the percentage of people who think so:
· Stockbrokers (8 percent)
· Real estate brokers (9 percent)
· Accountants (13 percent)
· Journalists (14 percent)
· Union leaders (15 percent)
· Bankers (15 percent)
· Business executives (15 percent)
· Actors (16 percent)
· Entertainers (18 percent)
· Lawyers (18 percent)

Harris Poll has conducted this survey annually since 1977. Here are some of the interesting changes in our perception of prestigious jobs in that 28-year period:
· Those who see teachers as having "very great" prestige have risen 18 points from 29 to 47 percent.
· Those who think lawyers have "very great" prestige have fallen 18 points, from 36 to 18 percent.
· Scientists have fallen 10 points from 66 to 56 percent.
· Doctors have fallen seven points from 61 to 54 percent.
· Priests, ministers and clergymen have fallen five points from 41 to 36 percent.
· Business executives have fallen three points from 18 to 15 percent.
· Athletes have fallen three points from 26 to 23 percent.
· Teachers are the only occupation to see a rise in prestige since 1977.

Notable changes since last year:
· Firemen have risen eight points from 48 to 56 percent.
· Architects have risen seven points from 20 to 27 percent.
· Nurses have risen six points from 44 to 50 percent.
· Members of Congress have fallen five points and are the largest decliner from 31 to 26 percent.