Final answer:
People's occupations can change due to factors such as population growth, new technologies, and new industries. Personal choices and life-changing events like marriage, migration, or wars also play a crucial role. These shifts in the job market and social mobility are indicators of the dynamic nature of career paths.
Step-by-step explanation:
The chapter suggests that people's occupations change over the course of their lives due to a variety of reasons. These changes can be attributed to factors such as population growth, new technologies, and the emergence of new industries. Additionally, the personal choice in one's career is significantly influenced by external factors, such as family, society, and the labor market's ongoing evolution.
Significant life events or changes, including marriage, migration, wars, or the adoption of a different faith, can also lead to a career change. In the context of increasing productivity and technological advances, there's been a dramatic rise in urban centers and the pursuit of wealth and social mobility.
Occupational specialization, political stratification, and wealth stratification are facets of the shift from homogeneity to heterogeneity in human populations. As capitalism has increased, people have become more upwardly mobile, seeking better opportunities than their predecessors, leading to changes in their occupational statuses throughout their lives.