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Title: Cognitive Abilities and the Growth of High-IQ Occupations
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Huang, Min-Hsiung
Cognitive Abilities and the Growth of High-IQ Occupations
Social Science Research 30,4 (December 2001): 529-551,
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X01907100
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Academic Press, Inc.
Keyword(s): Cognitive Ability; General Social Survey (GSS); I.Q.; Occupational Status; Occupations

Is there increasing cognitive partitioning by occupation over time? Herrnstein and Murray's The Bell Curve strongly suggests such a trend. Herrnstein and Murray specify 12 occupations as "high-IQ professions." They argue that as jobs in these occupations increase over time, more people with high IQs are drawn to these occupations. Thus, there is a growing concentration of the cognitive elite in high-IQ occupations and increasing cognitive partitioning by occupation. However, I find Herrnstein and Murray's analysis problematic due to lack of evidence and misinterpretation of data. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the Wisconsin Longitudinal Survey, I rank occupations by incumbents' mean IQ and demonstrate that Herrnstein and Murray overestimate the rankings of some high-IQ occupations, the mean IQ level of persons in high-IQ occupations, and the percentage of high-IQ persons engaged in high-IQ occupations. In addition, using data from the General Social Survey, 1974-1998, I find no evidence that cognitive partitioning by occupation has increased over time. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.
Bibliography Citation
Huang, Min-Hsiung. "Cognitive Abilities and the Growth of High-IQ Occupations." Social Science Research 30,4 (December 2001): 529-551,.