Comparative research into translator status: Finland and Sweden as a case in point

Figures & data

Table 1. Respondents’ backgrounds.

	FIN		SWE
	n	%	n	%
Employment status
Freelancer	260	65.5	284	79.1
Employed	137	34.5	75	20.9
	397	100.0	359	100.0
Gender
Female	316	79.6	224	62.6
Male	73	18.4	123	34.4
Other/Prefer not to answer	8	2.0	11	3.0
	397	100.0	358	100.0
Age
0–25	1	0.3	1	0.3
25–34	80	20.2	35	10.5
35–44	121	30.5	67	20.0
45–54	104	26.2	79	23.6
55–60	58	14.6	52	15.5
61–	33	8.3	100	29.9
	397	100.0	334	100.0
Work experience in T/I industry
0–5 years	76	19.1	34	9.7
6–10 years	73	18.4	75	21.3
11–15 years	76	19.1	43	12.2
16–20 years	61	15.4	68	19.3
21 years or more	111	28.0	132	37.5
	397	100.0	352	100.0
Specialisation^a
AV translator	48	12.1	25	6.9
Business translator	247	62.2	240	66.8
Literary translator	58	14.6	85	23.6
Other	44	11.1	21	5.8
	397	100.0	359	N/A
Working hours
Full-time (32 h per week or more)	283	67.1	234	55.0
Part-time	113	32.9	122	45.0
	396	100.0	356	100.0
Education
High school or vocational school	3	0.8	15	4.2
University studies	23	5.8	84	23.4
Lower university degree	46	11.6	69	19.2
Higher university degree	296	74.6	161	44.8
Doctoral or licentiate’s degree	7	1.8	21	5.8
Other	22	5.5	8	2.2
N/A	0	0.0	1	0.3
	397	100.0	359	100.0
Major subject
Translation	197	49.6	86	24.0
Languages	141	35.5	143	39.8
Other	59	14.9	100	27.9
N/A	0	0.0	20	8.4
	397	100.0	359	100.0

^a The Finnish respondents could only choose one option; the Swedish respondents were able to choose multiple options.

Table 2. Dependent variables.

Variable	Item(s)
(1) Overall status of the profession	Status in society^a
	Prestige
(2) Income	Satisfaction with income^b
(3) Expertise/Education	Expertise required to translate
	Special skills required to translate
	Creativity involved in translation
	Confidence: Do your commissioners / people at your workplace trust in the quality of your translations?
	Status in society in comparison to other occupations with the same level of education
	Expertise required to translate according to people outside the translation profession
	Special skills required to translate according to people outside the translation profession
	What do people outside the profession believe to be the length of translator education after upper secondary school?
(4) Visibility	Overall visibility in society
	Appreciation by commissioners or at workplace
(5) Influence/Power	Responsibility involved in translation
	Commitment: How frequently have you considered changing professions within the past year?^c
	Translators’ influence (economic, political, etc.)
	Translators’ influence according to people outside the translation profession

^a The Swedish item followed the original Danish formulation more closely (‘In your opinion, does the translator’s profession enjoy a high status in Sweden?’). The Finnish item was adapted to follow the wording of Finnish surveys on occupational status (‘To what degree is the translator’s profession valued in Finland?’) since the Finnish word for status (asema) was judged too ambiguous.

^b Actual income levels are excluded from the present analysis as they are not indicative of perceptions. The significance of income for status perceptions will be considered in a later, multivariate approach.

^c The possibility to change careers is linked to autonomy and hence power.

Table 3. Items with higher rankings for the Finnish respondents.

Variable	Item	U value	p value	Mean rank		Median		Mode
				FIN	SWE	FIN	SWE	FIN	SWE
Overall status	Status in society	57,878.5	0.000	411.21	341.17	3	2	3	3
Education/Expertise	Expertise	55,646	0.000	417.83	335.00	5	5	5	5
	Special skills	55,974	0.000	417.01	335.92	5	5	5	5
	Creativity	60,486.5	0.000	405.64	348.49	4	4	5	4
	Outsiders’ view of the length of education^a	62,432.5	0.029	386.74	353.96	1	1	1	1
Visibility	Visibility in society	59,846	0.000	404.21	346.66	2	2	2	2
Power/influence	Influence	20,460.5	0.000	504.46	236.31	3	2	3	1
	Outsiders’ view of influence	62,882.5	0.012	391.61	355.15	2	1	2	1

^a In this item, the verbal alternatives were converted for the statistical analysis as follows: 0 years = 0; 1–2 years = 1; 3–4 years = 2; 5–6 years = 3.

Figure 1. Respondents’ views of the length of translator education as estimated by people outside the field.

Table 4. Items with higher rankings for the Swedish respondents.

Variable	Item	U value	p value	Mean rank		Median		Mode
				FIN	SWE	FIN	SWE	FIN	SWE
Education/Expertise	Expertise according to people outside the profession	76,336	0.036	361.72	393.03	3	3	3	3
	Special skills according to people outside the profession	83,470	0.000	361.51	396.28	3	3	3	3
Visibility	Appreciation by commissioners or at workplace	86,776	0.000	338.37	421.72	4	4	4	5
Power/influence	Responsibility	77,608	0.012	361.51	396.28	5	5	5	5
	Commitment to the field^a	62,592	0.002	400.34	354.35	1	0	1	1

^aIn this item, the verbal alternatives were converted for the statistical analysis as follows: Not at all = 0; 1–2 times per year = 1; 3–4 times per year = 2; every month = 3; every week = 4; every day = 5.

Figure 2. How frequently respondents had considered changing careers within the past year.

Table 5. Items with no statistically significant results.

Variable	Item	U value	p value	Mean rank		Median		Mode
				FIN	SWE	FIN	SWE	FIN	SWE
Overall status	Prestige	66,819	0.132	388.71	366.12	3	3	3	3
Income	Satisfaction with income	75,795	0.066	363.10	391.41	3	3	4	4
Education/expertise	Confidence by commissioners or at workplace	76,050	0.058	365.45	391.84	5	5	4	4
	Status in society in comparison to other occupations with the same level of education	69,468	0.818	377.02	373.79	2	2	2	2