5 Shockingly Unfair Ways Your Looks Affect Your Career

5

Unattractive Scientists Are Viewed As Dull But Talented

Scientists have to be able to effectively communicate their findings to the public. It advances their careers, and makes sure a paper called "Experimental Liver Cancer Treatment In Rodents Produces Potential For Further Research" doesn't get reported by CNN as "Scientists Cure Cancer In Mice, Human Cure For All Cancers Ever Soon To Follow!" But most people aren't scientists, so how can we tell which ones are good at their jobs and which seemingly are just working to prove a link between climate change and the decline of ska? Well, we usually can't, so we judge them based on their looks.

A 2017 study found that people are more likely to be interested in research performed by scientists who are deemed "competent, moral, and attractive." So Dr. Honey Goodbody, who looks like she just stepped out of a Bond movie, will draw more interest than the wizened hunchback Dr. Cornelius Coughsalot, even if the former is looking into aardvark arthritis while the latter has a $500,000 grant to study why it feels good to eat ice cream and hug puppies.

Where it gets weirder is that when judging "good" science rather than "interesting" science, there's a bias toward "less sociable and more physically unattractive individuals." We like the hot scientists, but assume that deep down, they're maybe a little ditzy. Again, these judgments are being made by people who aren't scientists. They have no real idea what "good" science is. We just want our science to be taught to us by hot people, even as we believe that the scientists who fit the stereotype of a socially awkward troll unfit for the camera are doing the real work. Sure, they might one day cure ALS, but Christ, we don't want to look at them.

Gheorghiu, Callan, Skylark/PNASThey never outright say they're studying why no one on the research team can get a date, but it's pretty clear between the lines.

Aside from our natural inclination toward attractive people in, oh, every aspect of society, this also seems to be because most of us view science as another form of entertainment. When someone says that they "love" science, they don't mean they're poring over the latest issue of The Lancet. They mean they half-watch Neil deGrasse Tyson's latest Netflix show while they fart around on their phones. This can create a bias in what issues are considered to be of public importance, which in turn affects research funding, with money going to whoever can make their subject seem fun and interesting, rather than objectively useful. Of course, all this raises a potential paradox: How hot were the scientists who conducted this study?

4

If You're Attractive, You're Less Likely To Get A "Boring" Job

Being attractive generally gives you a boost in the hiring process. It's reasonably well-established that if two candidates are otherwise equal, then most people, consciously or not, are going to hire the one who's easy on the eyes rather, than the one who reminds them of the genetic lottery's many misfortunes. But this trend reverses if it's an "undesirable" job, like housekeeping, customer service, or warehouse work. So if you want a boring job, don't clean yourself up before the interview, because you'll have better odds than someone who looks like they should be starring on a TV drama called Hospital Doctors or Police Cops.

3

Attractive People Are Hired For Collaborative Jobs, While Unattractive People Are Hired For Competitive Jobs

In keeping with the theme of studs being competent trailblazers while duds should just be happy that society is finding a use for them instead of leaving them in the wilderness to die, attractive people are more likely to be hired if they're viewed as someone to collaborate with, while unattractive people are more likely to be hired if they're viewed as competition. Because if you're competing to, say, sell more trucks over the course of a year, we view the guy with a face that only a blind mother could love as less of a threat to our success.

2

Women Are More Likely To Get A Job Interview If Their Photo Has A Low Neckline

In some countries, it's common to include a photo with your resume, regardless of the job you're applying for. If that sounds like a terrible system to you, then you would be absolutely correct. A French study found that women were four times more likely to receive an interview for an accounting job (and five times more likely to receive an interview for a sales position) if their photo featured a lower neckline. And we're not talking nun's habits compared to bikinis, but functional, "not provocative" professional clothing that also happens to serve as a simple reminder that hey, this person has boobs.

University of BristolMarking the most recent addition to the list of studies that prove something everyone on Earth already knew.

1

Taller Men Earn More, Overweight Women Earn Less

Try to subdue your shock here, but society tends to favor tall men and thin women. But the University of Exeter wanted to determine just how much of an advantage they get, and they found bad news for any man who desperately rounds up to six feet on their dating profile. For every three inches taller men are, they make an average of $2,000 more per year, while for every 14 extra pounds (or one stone, in whatever Britain's Hogwarts measurement system is) a woman weighs, they will lose out on $2000 a year. That means that over a lifetime, a six-foot man will make nearly $100,000 more than a five-foot-nine colleague.