GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist has written a blog about science since 4 August 2004 (the early years are archived 
It has recently come to my attention, thanks to a friend and long-time reader, that according to a recent Harris poll, firefighters, scientists and teachers are considered to be the most prestigious professions by the public, while bankers, actors and real estate agents are perceived as the least prestigious professions.
Since the survey was first begun in 1977 by Harris Interactive, the most significant change since the survey's inception is that, with the exception of teachers and clergy, the perceived prestige of every one of the original 11 occupations has actually decreased over the years (the original survey only included only 11 professions in 1977.) For example, the most dramatic drop in prestige was noted for scientists (-12%), lawyers (-14%), athletes (-10%) and doctors (-9%). On the other hand, teachers' perceived prestige increased by 25 percent since 1977, while farmers showed the greatest increase over last year's results, gaining 5 points since 2006.
Do you have any idea why the respondents would classify these professions so highly? It certainly isn't due to fame or income, because none of these professions is populated by famous people nor are they particularly well-paid by any reasonable standard, so what makes these professions so prestigious?
Sources
Harris Intactive poll results.
Education & Careers
Comments
Well being a good teacher is exceptionally difficult and important for society so I'm glad that people say that it is prestigious. Not sure about farmers, good PR perhaps?
However, I suspect that people may be confusing important with prestigious.
Posted by: Chris' Wills | November 28, 2007 12:55 PM
I can only guess based on my own perceptions. I think these professions are ones in which there is a presumed selflessness and an intent to benefit society. I think the lack of money involved in these professions is one factor that adds to the perception of selflessness.
I also guess that a drop in prestige for scientists is at least partially the result of a concerted effort in some circles to denigrate science, for example, climate science and evolutionary biology.
Posted by: Mark P | November 28, 2007 3:43 PM
I'm with Chris - my first thought on reading this survey was "Survey shows: Americans don't know the meaning of the word 'prestigious'."
Posted by: Colin M | November 28, 2007 4:26 PM
Re the definition of prestigious: if everyone thinks a job is prestigious, then it is.
Here's M-W online dictionary definition of prestige: "standing or estimation in the eyes of people : weight or credit in general opinion."
Posted by: Mark P | November 28, 2007 5:09 PM
I checked the Web site. I noticed that my perceptions about why people think certain professions have prestige is similar to what the Harris site says. Doctors, of course, are perceived to make a lot of money but they are also considered to have prestigious professions.
Posted by: Mark P | November 28, 2007 6:04 PM
If you listen to the way a substantial chunk of [U.S] people talk about [k-12] teachers, though, it ends up looking a lot more complex and ambiguous - they're both respected and denigrated - although the latter more often by folks who dislike (or who repeat the opinions of folks who dislike) any concept of public good, etc.
Posted by: Dan S. | November 28, 2007 10:14 PM
I agree with the comment in #2 that the 12% decrease for scientists is due to the attack on science that comes largely from the fundamentalist religious right, especially from proponents of creationism and it's latest version, Intelligent Design (ID). The "Wedge Strategy" of the creationist Discovery Institute makes it clear that the point of the wedge is to get ID into public school science courses and then into society in general to accomplish an ultimate goal of transforming society into a religious-based theocracy.
The poor understanding of science by the general public is obvious. That we have not done a very good job in teaching science in our educational system is also apparent.
Posted by: vhutchison | November 28, 2007 11:01 PM
Who cares what people think? Who cares what people think is prestigious? Do you like what your do and can you make a living at it? The only important questions.
Posted by: Tabor | November 29, 2007 3:02 PM
Teachers and scientists are both among the most and least respected. Respected for their intelligence, education and benefits to society. But equally attacked for threatening tradition, religion and the established order - and for being the messangers of unwanted news.
Posted by: Suricou Raven | November 30, 2007 2:28 AM
Unfortunately, the public at large is willing to consider these careers prestigious at the expense of, ya know, paying these people what they are worth.
Posted by: gex | December 1, 2007 1:52 AM