The Process of Status Attainment in Greece

A 1977 sample of 6,112 male and 2,644 female employees in Greece is used to quantify the relationship between family background, ability, education, occupation, and earnings. Alternative path models fitted to the data give results as follows: education has a strong direct and indirect effect on earnings. Compared to education, ability and family background have a relatively small direct effect on earnings; however, the indirect influence of family background on the respondents' educational attainment is strong. The effect of education on earnings is stronger for females than for males. These results are compared to results obtained by similar models in other countries.