What to Do When You’re “Too Pretty” for the Job

Highly attractive people generally have a significant edge in the workforce—snagging benefits such as better salaries and shinier performance evaluations—but this same asset can work against women who apply for jobs in male-dominated fields.

Researchers call this the “beauty is beastly” effect, and according to the theory, beautiful women are assumed to be more feminine—and therefore less capable of working traditionally masculine jobs—than women who aren’t as good-looking. This is true for women working in many different fields, from finance to construction, and is observed most strongly in managerial positions.

The good news is that a study released this week by the University of Colorado at Boulder has found a way for genetically blessed women to mitigate the problem. The trick? Acknowledge your looks.

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About the Author: DrStefanieKJohnson

Dr. Stefanie K. Johnson is an Associate Professor of Management at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder. She holds a Ph.D. from Rice University and is particularly interested in the effects of unconscious biases in the evaluation of women and minorities, with the goal of finding ways to mitigate those biases. Dr. Johnson brings bias to light with an engaging and humorous approach to advanced scientific research, which has earned her numerous accolades and invitations to present her work at meetings around the world, including the White House for a 2016 summit on diversity in corporate America on National Equal Pay Day, and the 2016 Harvard Negotiation and Leadership Conference. She has published over 70 journal articles and book chapters in outlets such as Harvard Business Review, Journal of Applied Psychology and The Academy of Management Journal. She has extensive consulting experience and has created and delivered leadership-development training with an emphasis on evidence-based practice. In recognition of her unique research, Dr. Johnson has been awarded nearly three million dollars in external funding to study leadership and create leadership development programs aimed at increasing safety. Media outlets featuring her work include: The Economist, Newsweek, Time, and CNN. Stefanie lives in the Boulder Bubble in Colorado with her Biology Professor husband, two young kiddos, and two old kitties.