This book is a study of occupational advancement in American industry-a testing of the American tradition of ‘getting ahead.’ It deals in terms of mathematical probabilities with an individual’s chances of advancing promotionally up through the social-industrial structure. The study is based on the experience of twenty-eight thousand individuals employed over a sixteen and one-half year period in a large-scale industrial plant-a plant quite representative of American industry in many significant respects. The author investigates advancements up to the gang boss level, to the assistant foreman level, to the foreman level, to the junior executive level, to the executive level, the senior executive level, the officer level, and the presidential level. His study looks at the chances of advancement for individuals as a whole, for individuals in specific occupational groups, for individuals with differing amounts of education, and for individuals with differing scores on tests for intelligence. This book tells how many of the individuals entering employment every year, and which ones, will be promoted; how far up the ladder they will go; how many, and which ones, will be demoted; and how many, and which ones, will remain permanently positioned on their entry-level jobs.