Topic: Discrimination of looks in Business
People that say “looks don’t matter when it comes to business” appear to be totally wrong. In our society nowadays it seems that looks do matter. Besides knowledge and capabilities some looks tend to give you a higher salary or a higher chance of getting hired. Lots of researches proved this statement and there are different opinions on what exactly are those looks. One of the top debates are the differences between blondes and brunettes, fat and thin, tall and short and if you smile alot or not.
The stereo type has been there for ages now. I can not recall how many jokes exist about dumb blondes and how many times people will think blond people, especially girls, are dumber than for example brunettes. You must think that it all remains with the jokes, but nothing is less true. Research says that blondes actually do get discriminated in business and people do believe that those with straight dark hair are most likely to succeed rather than light hair. As a blond girl this frightens me. Of course it is a advantage that we blond girls do get away with things a lot easier than brunettes because it has been proved that men are more attracted to the blondes than the brown hair types. But the other part, and for me most important, is that we do want to be taken seriously and treated equally when it comes to business interview, negotiations and other business related meetings.
On the other hand, research of the Queensland University of Technology, proves the exact opposite. This study contributes to the economics literature that links physical characteristics to labour market outcomes, by investigating the influence of hair colour on women’s own wages. The University used U.S. panel data where they found that blonde women receive a large wage premium and that the wage is actually similar in size to thye return from an extra year of schooling. These results were the same as the inPrice research made in 2008