I’m trying to find the occupation code corresponding to human computers. I haven’t found anything that seems close in occ1950, except maybe “083 Statisticians and actuaries”? Though an actuary generally has a much more specialized skill set than human computers did.
OCC1950 is an IPUMS-created harmonized occupation code that reassigns respondent occupations in the CPS from 1968-onwards into the 1950 Census Bureau occupation classification system. The composition of the 1950 occupation categories is described in detail in the U.S. Bureau of the Census, Alphabetic Index of Occupations and Industries: 1950. The occupation Computer appears three times in the index. The first appearance tells enumerators to assign computers to the occupation code 096 (technicians not elsewhere classified) if the industry observed is 226 (crude petroleum and natural gas extraction). Alternatively, if the industry is listed as Geodetic Survey, then they are assigned an occupation code of 092 (surveyors) and an industry code of 916 (federal public administration). Finally, all other appearances of Computer are to be given the occupation code 390 (clerical and kindred workers not elsewhere classified) and assigned to the industry that the respondent reported being in. Based on the article you linked, it appears that the type of human computers you are interested in would be coded to OCC1950 = 390 together with similar clerical occupations. If this classification is too broad, you might be interested in using IND1950 to further refine observations with OCC1950 = 390 by the industry that they worked in.
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