MULTIDIMENSIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPA TIONAL CAREER DATA - AN APPLICATION OF 2 SWISS BIRTH COHORTS

Conventional methods of stratification and mobility research ace of li mited use for the analysis of occupational sequence data. We have ther efore developed a new approach to the classification of occupational t rajectories-one that takes into account both the multidimensionality o f occupational differentiation and the time-dependency of occupational careers. The application of this new classification method to occupat ional sequence data of two Swiss birth cohorts allows us to reduce the great multitude of individual trajectories to conceptually meaningful and empirically grounded career types. We are thus in the position to efficiently describe occupational trajectories and to document change s in particular career types.