The Vertical Scaling of Occupations: Some Cautionary Comments and Reflections

The purpose of this commentary is to locate the symmetric scaling of intergenerational continuity (SSIC) within a detailed typology of vertical scales. In the course of doing so, we establish that SSIC cannot be seen as a "corrected" prestige or socioeconomic scale, nor is it a convincing proxy for the total assets and resources embedded in occupations. We argue that SSIC might be reinterpreted as the dominant dimension underlying patterns of intergenerational contact; however, some of the competing "network scales" tap a broader range of relational processes, and it would therefore be difficult to salvage a major role for SSIC within this tradition. We conclude by asking whether SSIC should be privileged relative to alternative scales that maximize other bivariate correlations.