There’s a gender gap when it comes to physical attractiveness in the job market
It’s no secret that a pretty face can give job seekers a leg up during the hiring process, but new studies suggest that attractive men have the greatest advantage of all. Possibly that’s because HR departments are staffed predominately by women, who may want to filter out potential competition, but even when it’s men making the decision, attractive men are selected over other candidates. Attractive women are actually at a disadvantage at the hiring stage—they’re less likely to get a callback than Plain Jane counterparts with very similar résumés. However, pretty ladies are more likely to be promoted once they’ve already secured the job.
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In 2010, the World Economic Forum designated Sweden as the most gender-equal country in the world. It hasn’t come about by happenstance. Sweden has made it a point to foster gender neutrality, whether it be in the workplace, the home, or the classroom.
Now, Sweden may be driving neutrality even further, with a push to create a gender-neutral pronoun–hen, an alternative to han (he) and hon (she).
Read more about it here. And let us know what you think!
Some pretty eye-opening statistics in a new infographic from EngineeringDegree.net. It looks at how gender stereotypes and social pressures eat away at girls’ confidence in their abilities in certain subjects, to the point at which most women shy away from careers in those fields despite their natural aptitude for them. One stat in particular stands out: When girls are asked to state their gender on a test, they score, on average, 20 percent lower than they would have had they not been asked that question!
Check out the infographic and let us know what you think:
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Grant Thornton has released its latest study on women in senior management, looking at progress made (or lost) in recent years by women in business around the world. Among the findings:
- Women hold 1 in 5 senior management roles globally, very similar to the level observed in 2004
- Businesses in Russia, followed by Botswana, the Philippines, and Thailand have the most women in senior management; those in Germany, India, and Japan the least
- Less than 1 in 10 businesses has a female CEO, with women largely employed in finance and human resources (HR) roles
- Many economies, especially in Europe, are choosing to implement quotas on the number of women on boards
- No clear correlation exists between either flexible working practices or female economic activity and the proportion ofwomen in senior management
Read the complete report here.
Today’s Daily Infographic reveals some interesting data about the dominance of women in social networking. Did you know that more than 84 percent of popular social media sites have a majority female ratio? On Pinterest, 8 in 10 users are female.
Check out the infographic to learn more:
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A few eye-opening stats from the Women’s Media Center:
- Of 180 nominations for this year’s Academy Awards, only 35 went to women–that’s 19 percent!
- Fully 1/4 of the categories had no women nominated at all.
- 77 percent of Oscar voters are men.
- Only 6 of the 43 members of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are women.
To learn more about the current status of women in media, click here. And don’t miss this video showcasing the acclaimed films directed by women that went unrecognized by the academy this year.
Despite radical shifts in gender roles over the past half century, men and women continue to experience a sexual divide—at least when it comes to sex versus romance. Euro RSCG’s 2012 Valentine’s Day study finds that men are more than twice as likely as women to choose sex over romance if they could only have one for the rest of their lives. Men are also significantly more likely to think the best way to improve their current relationship would be to up the amount of sex, while women once again would opt for more romance. Around a fifth of both genders would pass up more sex and more romance in favor of a healthier dose of plain-old affection, suggesting less-than-rosy times in quite a lot of U.S. households.
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Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook Inc., discusses the global “ambition gap” for women. She spoke Jan. 27 on a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times moderates the discussion.
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New research finds that men worry more than women about their body shape and appearance. The study was conducted in the U.K. among a sample of 394 men. Among the findings:
- More than four in five men (81 percent) talk in ways that promote anxiety about their body image by referring to perceived flaws and imperfections, compared with 75 percent of women.
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Luluvise.com, a women-only social network, launched this week. In addition to the usual functions–e.g., sending messages and photos to friends–it lets members rate their dates on attractiveness and sexual prowess. Can you imagine the uproar if it were a men-only site instead?
You can read more about it on TechCrunch or check out the site here. At this time, membership is available to Facebook users only.
