Class Perceptions and Social Identification of Industrial Supervisors

This paper examines the class position of 156 Birmingham first-line supervisors, and how the supervisors perceive that position. It concludes that they occupy a class position which is only marginally superior to that of manual workers. In their perceptions, however, they range from ascribing a middle class position for themselves to a working class one. These perceptions are assessed in terms of six indicators. The less that supervisors see their role and standing in the firm falling short of what they believe to be appropriate, and the closer they identify themselves with senior management, the higher tends to be the class position they see themselves occupying. It would be an oversimplification, the paper suggests, to conclude that the supervisors studied belong in a straightforward manner either to a proletarianized middle class or to a working class group which has adopted middle class characteristics.