A few years ago research found that students tended to be taught by attractive teachers. The study also found that attractive economists tend to do better once they graduate as well.
Previous research has broadly shown that good-looking people tend to have an easier time of it in life. They get paid more, receive better job evaluations, and are generally more employable.
The beauty premium
Recent research from Cambridge Judge Business School suggests there is a degree of nuance to the so-called “beauty premium” in that it often depends on whether one’s beauty is consistent with other equally attractive characteristics, such as one’s educational background.
Good jobs often went to good-looking people with high-status education, while less good-looking folks from regular colleges landed lower-status roles. Strikingly, those with only one of these qualities faced the toughest times.
Employers look at applicants, not in a general way but for how well they fit a particular job. This is one reason why the study disagrees with past research, which thought folks with lower attractiveness and education would struggle in most job situations.
Contradictory expectations
In other words, it’s when we have contradictory expectations that uncertainty tends to enter into our evaluation of an individual. If they look the part and have the credentials to back it up then they will be strongly supported, but that support withers away when there is incongruency between their looks and their background.
“Our study focuses not only on characteristics such as attractiveness and education, but how particular status combinations fit with the job context involved,” the researchers explain. “We develop a framework that suggests that it’s the degree of status consistency rather than only the number of relevant status characteristics that matters most to prospective employers.”
As a Harvard study shows, the prevalence of social media means that our looks are usually visible to recruiters, and this can significantly impact our chances of being hired. As with the Cambridge study, however, congruence was key.
Meeting expectations
The research indicates that if your profile photo conveys a professional appearance, those making hiring decisions for both employment and freelance opportunities may prioritize this aspect over lower ratings, fewer certifications, and a smaller number of reviews compared to your peers.
“We analyzed six months of data from Freelancer.com and found that, above and beyond demographics and beauty, there is a strong correlation between simply looking the part and perceived job performance,” the researchers explain. “These results suggest that profile photos might have an unintended consequence beyond establishing trust between participants, as many online freelancer marketplaces claim, and that they can put those who ‘don’t look the part’ at a disadvantage.”
As research from the University of Colorado, Boulder, demonstrates, however, this can backfire when beauty confounds our expectations of that particular role.
Beauty is beastly
The research found that when attractive women applied for roles that traditionally were filled by men, they tended to be negatively affected, with a perception that beautiful women are inherently unqualified for such jobs.
It’s a phenomenon the researchers refer to as the ‘beauty is beastly’ effect, and describes how attractive women can often be at a disadvantage when applying for traditionally male roles where looks are irrelevant.
So, it’s clear that beauty does play a role in how we assess people in the workplace, with beauty sometimes working for people and sometimes against them. It’s quite likely, however, that it’s distorting our true assessments of them as individuals.
Avoiding the beauty bias
A first step you can introduce to ensure that the beauty bias doesn’t distort things is to have a deliberate and structured screening process that gives candidates a fair assessment before any in-person interviewing takes place.
To get the right folks on board, start by tossing out candidates who don’t meet the basic requirements on paper. Then, have a chat with them on the phone, not through video calls or Skype, to confirm their resume skills.
This way, recruiters can compare everyone based on clear facts, without letting any sneaky biases creep in. When screening at the beginning, it’s smart to ditch names and photos, so HR or managers don’t get swayed against good candidates. Bringing in a mix of people from different backgrounds on the hiring team can also help tackle personal biases.
Recruiters can also use fancy tech tools, like artificial intelligence, to help pick the right candidates. These machines focus on finding people with the exact skills needed for the job, making sure you’re hiring for the right reasons.
