Professional class

The professional class refers to those individuals identified as professionals. Individuals in this particular group commonly distinguish themselves from other social groups by obtaining graduate degrees and holding highly specialized occupations which hold considerable esteem among the public. Examples of such professions include academics, architects, engineers, lawyers, physicians, dentists, economists, political scientists and other scientists. Persons of this group are most likely members of the upper middle class and tend to maintain comfortable incomes. In the United States, the terms "professional class" and "managerial class" are used to subdivide the upper middle class into professionals and those who are employed in the corporate sector. In the US the professional class is believed to be more liberal in their political beliefs and more chic and urban in their tastes versus the more conservative managerial class which consists of corporate managers.