The Wisconsin model of socio-economic attainment is a model that describes and explains an individual's social mobility

Social mobility

Social mobility refers to the movement of people in a population from one social class or economic level to another. It typically refers to vertical mobility -- movement of individuals or groups up from one socio-economic level to another, often by changing jobs or marrying; but can also refer to...

 and its economic, social, and psychological determinants. The logistics of this model are primarily attributed to William H. Sewell

William H. Sewell

William Hamilton Sewell was a United States sociologist and the Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1967-1968. He is known also as the father of another sociologist .-Biography:...

, as well as his colleagues Archibald Haller and Alejandro Portes

Alejandro Portes

Alejandro Portes is a prominent Cuban-American sociologist. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1970. He is currently chair of the department of sociology at Princeton University and a member of the National Academy of Science, and of the Board of Trustees...

. The model receives its name from the state in which a significant amount of the research and analysis was completed. Unlike the previous research on this topic by Peter Blau

Peter Blau

Peter Michael Blau was an American sociologist and theorist. Born in Vienna, Austria, he immigrated to the United States in 1939. He received his PhD at Columbia University in 1952, and was an instructor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan from 1949–1951, before moving on to teach...

 and Otis Dudley Duncan

Otis Dudley Duncan

Otis Dudley Duncan was "the most important quantitative sociologist in the world in the latter half of the 20th century", according to sociologist Leo Goodman...

, this model encompasses more than just educational and occupational factors and their effect on social mobility for American males.

Prior research

Before the framework for the Wisconsin model was constructed, Peter Blau and Otis Duncan established the first model of social mobility of its kind. However, the Blau-Duncan model was made up of only five predictors. These included father's education and occupation, the individual's education and first job, and the individual's job several years later.

Purpose

Sewell and his counterparts aimed to contribute to the Blau-Duncan model of status attainment by adding predictor variables. Because the results given by the Blau-Duncan model were based heavily on "structural factors as explanatory variables", the Wisconsin model was created to account for "social-psychological factors on educational and occupational attainment", which in turn, provided more accurate prediction. These variables, in turn, came from analyses done by Sewell and Haller in the 1950s and published (with Sewell's agreement) by Haller and Miller (1963, 1971). The latter work includes the theory on which the psychosociological variables of the WM are based.

References.
Blau, Peter B., and Otis Dudley Duncan
1967 THE OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE. New York: Wiley.
1963 THE OCCUPATIONAL ASPIRATION SCALE: THEORY, STRUCTURE AND CORRELATES. East Lansing:
Michigan State University Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin 288.
1971, 2nd Edition—Schenkman: Cambridge, MA.

Model variables

The model consisted of eight characteristics that most effectively linked socio-economic background and status attainment. These included occupational attainment, educational attainment, level of occupational aspiration, level of educational aspiration, the influence of significant others, academic performance, socioeconomic status, and mental ability.

Occupational attainment

Measured by Otis Dudley Duncan's socio-economic index of occupational status.

Educational attainment

Achieved by assigning a point value to certain levels of education that a subject has reached. In more recent studies using this model, educational attainment was classified into four levels: no post high school education, vocational school, college attendance, and a college degree. Earlier studies only classified subjects into those who went to college and those who did not.

Level of occupational aspiration

The subject's level is calculated by again categorizing Duncan's socioeconomic index scores in association with the occupation that the subject hope to hold in the future.

Level of educational aspiration

This is classified by the education level that each subject originally indicates that they hope to secure. Once again, some recent studies have assigned point values for three levels of desired education level: not continuing education after high school, vocational school, or college. Previous studies only categorized students based on which type institution they planned on attending prior to high school graduation.

Significant others' influence

This variable can be determined by evaluating three perceptions of the subject including: parental and teacher encouragement to attend college, as well as friends' college plans.

Socioeconomic status

In the original study, socio-economic status was determined by a weighted combination of mother's and father's education, father's occupation, and average annual income from 1957-1960.

Mental ability

This variable is determined by the analysis of standardized testing. In previous studies, statewide test results for high school juniors and seniors are compared with state intelligence norms.

Interpersonal influence

Primarily, the significant others' direct influence on the subject specifically relates to one's educational and occupational aspirations and also educational attainment. Basically, this implies that those who are constantly involved with a subject (mother, father, friend) will have a direct outcome on what type of education the subject receives.

Self-reflexive action

Essentially, this implies that a person's status attainment can only be limited by one's own "perceived ability".

Status aspirations

One's desire to attain status is an obligation for educational and occupational attainment.

Resulting hypotheses

Because this model organizes how status aspirations are formed and the way in which they influence "attainment-oriented behavior" the following conclusions can be drawn from the model:

"Status aspirations are complex forms of attitudes whose translation into attainment levels is affected by the context in which individuals attempt to enact them."

"Attitudes - including levels of aspiration - are formed and altered through two basic mechanisms; interpersonal influence, including reflexive adjustment of others' expectations, and including self-reflexion."