I’ve previously linked an analysis of political beliefs as a function of the industry in which an individual works. Comes now a much more fine-grained analysis of political affiliation versus occupation/profession. Below the summary chart–pairs of somewhat-related occupations that have very different political profiles–is a much more detailed chart that allows expansion of an occupational category into multiple subcategories: for example, “engineering” further subdivides into civil, chemical , mechanical, electrical, etc. (That detailed chart doesn’t work on my Mac for some reason, although it works fine on iPhone and Android: not sure whether or not this is a general problem)
Please read & discuss.
Pediatricians and pediatric surgeons are both heavily Democrat. I think this comes from the focus on children and the psychology of such people. Pediatricians are also heavily dominated by female physicians, another D group. Doctors were formerly small business people, mostly men until the last 30 years. They had the politics of most small business people. Now, many doctors are on salary and their politics have changed.
I looked at the chart (which worked fine on my MacBook Air) and vascular surgeons are 50% D. That probably represents two things; that is a new field and may also have a lot of female members. Urologists may be more likely to be in small practices rather than big corporate practices but that is a guess.
Medicine is changing rapidly in economics of practice and in political affiliation. Most new medical school graduates are employees of large corporations and 60% are female.
Nothing complex about the data.
People who live in a dream world of “ought to be”: tend toward Donks.
People who grapple with the world or actual reality: tend toward Phants.
How ’bout Dem leaning professions tend towards occupations where “groupthink” is prevalent.
On the Pub side, there’s more of a “not to be led” mindset. Which also explains their organization, or lack thereof.
Generally speaking, I think the data supports my hypothesis that “word people” and “image people” lean more to the Left.
I don’t think this is quite identical to “dream world of ‘ought to be'” versus “world of actual reality.” People who are Media Executives, for instance, (within the Business Leadership category) often have actual P&L targets they have to meet, not to mention schedules…yet they skew very much to the Left side. Under the Aviation category, Air Traffic Controllers deal with the world of actual reality as much as Pilots do, but they are considerably further to the Left.
Under the Skilled Trades category, it’s interesting that Plumbers and Welders are somewhat further to the Right than are Electricians, and considerably further to the Right than Carpenters. Why?
I used to give to every party; unfortunately, that was the nature of the corrupt county in which I grew up. Architecture was thrust upon me by accident when Engineering classes were full. I have noticed a definite shift in student attitudes. Everybody is so afraid of being called a racist or sexist. Since we had every type of person in our study group, we proudly stated our beliefs – no matter how stupid. Students have a right to be stupid. That is the whole point.
My impression is that carpentry, while often a choice of quite independent people who want to do their own thing, is also a craft some see as an art. I can think of two or three examples of people I’ve known (yes, small representation); e.g., my periodontist spent most of one visit complaining that he’d sent his son to some fairly pricey liberal arts school (I think Sewanee) and he’d come out deciding to be a carpenter. I tried to assure him that it must be a joy to work with wood all day. He grunted – he has his schedule filled until two or three in the afternoon so he can play golf everyday; he thought his son wouldn’t have as lucrative a life. Anyway, artists, for some reason, tend to like big government and strong men. That is not something I’m very happy about, but it is generally true.
As a small business owner and Engineer the details on fellow engineers is not surprising. The predominant 50/50 split is a result of mostly apolitical people who work in larger companies where you might expect a more Republican tilt for guys who work in the real world. I’ve found this in all kinds of areas and where people feel they are in more control of their lives tilt right and those who feel they have no influence tilt left. Guys in the crafts are like this, where electricians and pipefitters who never were in the unionized industries tend right and vehemently hate unions and thos who’s whole lives were spent in a strong union world trend democrat. This is self reinforcing as the cultures are so far apart trans migration is difficult.
Mike K: My brother, who is a physician and was in an independent practice, once said to me that he got so much money from the government (Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) that he felt like a welfare mother.
1st. My brother is very conservative.
2nd. I looked at the chart, it needs to filter out race and other demographic factors.
” he thought his son wouldn’t have as lucrative a life.”
I am disappointed that none of my kids went into science, let alone medicine. A lot of doctors I know do not want their kids to go into medicine but I still think it is a noble profession. Instead, two of my kids are lawyers ! Ugh.
One of them is a fireman and paramedic, something he has wanted to do since 6th grade. He is probably the smartest of all the kids but he didn’t like school.
The two youngest are girls and still “finding themselves” although the older is very smart and was half way to a PhD when she decided to quit and go to work. She now works in an art gallery and wants to get into software development.
The youngest is still finding herself although she has a degree (in French) and is very smart.
You sure can’t live their lives for them. It is a bit disappointing that they did not take more advantage of what I was willing to do.
My father told me to “get this idea of college out of your head !” I got no encouragement from him and my mother could not do much but did what she could. I left home to go to California at age 18 and never went back to live.
I remember being a Stevenson fan in 1956 but I took an Economics class soon after and that made me a Republican. I voted for Nixon in 1960 and outraged most of the family who were all Democrats. I wonder if an Economics class would be worthwhile today ?
“it’s interesting that Plumbers and Welders are somewhat further to the Right than are Electricians, and considerably further to the Right than Carpenters. Why?”
I think there are more electricians in unions than plumbers. The IBEW is the electricians union. It’s a pretty prominent national organization. I’m not sure what the plumbers unions are.
I worked summers in college for a relative’s construction company and met many skilled tradesmen. The plumbers had small businesses and were entrepreneurs. The electricians were usually independent contractors.