What is an Occupational Category?

The terms 'job', 'occupation' and 'career' are often treated as interchangeable. However in the context of labour market analysis, an occupational category is defined as 'A set of jobs whose main tasks and duties are characterised by a high degree of similarity (skill specialisation).' (Department of Higher Education and Training 2013, 6). At a highly aggregated level, ‘professional’ is an occupational category whereas at a disaggregated level, a particular professional might be a 'biomedical engineer'.

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