Last year I was contacted by a loyal reader. He had watched me do a live interview at a virtual conference. “I just wanted to check in with you and see if you were OK healthwise,” he began. “You look considerably frail now.”
The “beauty is beastly effect” applies to female candidates judged physically attractive, who face discrimination applying for jobs in male-dominated sectors, such as construction. My reader’s misplaced concern was only one reason to update my byline. Past column photos depict me unsmiling in suit and tie. Yet for months, I have been writing about the pros and cons of working flexibly, tielessly and suitlessly.
A 2014 study in The Leadership Quarterly by Christopher Olivola, Dawn Eubanks, and Jeffrey Lovelace suggested male leaders within business, the military and sport shared common facial features. Researchers concluded leaders may be selected in part by how they look. One paper used a sample of Chinese chief executives of listed companies and found investors reacted more negatively to acquisitions conducted by attractive female CEOs. These are depressing findings, for women in particular. But they should also unsettle anyone who feels as though the substance of what they do is more important than the surface impression they leave.
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