Definition of Career Inheritance
(noun) The tendency for children to enter the same or similar occupations as their parents.
Examples of Career Inheritance
- George H. W. Bush, 41st President of the United States and George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States.
- My mother was a sociology professor and I am too.
- My father was a nurse and I am a physician.
Career Inheritance Pronunciation
Syllabification: ca·reer in·her·i·tance
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /kuhr-rIR in-hAIR-uh-tuhns/
- British English – /kuh-rIUH in-hE-ri-tuhns/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /kəˈrɪr ɪnˈhɛrətəns/
- British English – /kəˈrɪər ɪnˈhɛrɪtəns/
Usage Notes
- Plural: career inheritances
- Children may follow the path of their parents due to a variety of factors including socialization or access to cultural capital and social capital.
- A type of inheritance.
Additional Information
- Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “career” and “inheritance” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Inheritance – Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia: en.wikipedia.org
Related Terms
- family
- family life cycle
- family of orientation
- family of procreation
- group
- individual
- inheritance
- marriage
- monogamy
Works Consulted
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Cite the Definition of Career Inheritance
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “career inheritance.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved May 29, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/career-inheritance/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
career inheritance. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/career-inheritance/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “career inheritance.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed May 29, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/career-inheritance/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“career inheritance.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 29 May. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/career-inheritance/>.