Josser is a term used to describe someone who was not born into a circus

Circus

A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...

 family, and has not married into a circus family, but is in circus nonetheless.

Jossers are not rare, but few remain in circus for any long period of time. It is very seldom that a Josser is seen in the upper hierarchy

Hierarchy

A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...

 of a professional circus, their status is usually seen as lesser than that of someone of circus descent. This is due to the aforementioned dedication

Dedication

Dedication is the act of consecrating an altar, temple, church or other sacred building. It also refers to the inscription of books or other artifacts when these are specifically addressed or presented to a particular person. This practice, which once was used to gain the patronage and support of...

issue. Jossers are at a disadvantage in modern circus, because generally speaking they have not been raised in a circus discipline, or trained to the extent of their circus-born coworkers. Amateur acts (i.e. amateur clowns) are not considered Jossers unless they have worked in larger scale circus.