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Having a tough time finding a new job? Your shiny hair, flawless complexion, and doe eyes may be to blame. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Social Psychology, attractive women are discriminated against when applying for jobs considered "masculine" -- like director of finance, mechanical engineer or construction supervisor.
In every other work situation, though, including salary increases and performance reviews, the Zooey Deschanels edge out the average Janes of the world, says study author Stefanie Johnson, assistant professor of management at U.C. Denver Business School. But as soon as the profession skews male, hot girls are swiftly placed at the bottom of the pile.
In the experiment, participants were given photos of university students (all dressed in biz-casual clothes) and asked to rate their attractiveness. The participants were then asked to rate how suitable each person would be for specific occupations. Overwhelmingly, pretty women were deemed less qualified for "manly" gigs than "unattractive" ones.
Well, this explains why we didn't get that ranch-hand job. Damn you, good genes!
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Thursday 12 August
By Little Miss
At least if writing and cooking don't work out, I can apply for a construction job, I guess. Some advantages to not being starlet pretty.
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Thursday 12 August
By cris
Crap, gotta stop wearing lipstick to my job interviews (civil engineer).
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Sunday 15 August
By Lee
Well, this study doesn't say exactly what you seem to think it does (at least from your summary - I am too lazy to actually read the article, so my comment may be flawed). It shows that random people think pretty girls are less "suitable" for a certain job - which probably reflects the fact that it is less common/stereotyped to see them in those positions. In order to determine if there is discrimination, actual hiring practices would need to be studied - for example, a bunch of bosses should be given resumes and pictures, and then rate how likely they'd be to hire them.
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Tuesday 17 August
By L.
I actually had to leave my job as an engineer for job discrimination and both general and sexual harassment. I always felt like I had to do a much better job than anyone else to be considered equal. I don't think getting the job was ever an issue. However in college I was continually passed up for internships for what seemed to be equal competition other than gender and 'looks.'
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