Sexism remains a predictable staple of the modern workplace. That sobering thought comes from new research which suggests that a deep cut shirt in a job application photo might boost a woman’s chances of getting called back for an interview. A recent French study concluded that women applying for jobs where a photograph is necessary had a 19 times higher odds ratio for landing job interviews when showing cleavage as opposed to more conservative looks.
Dr. Sevag Kertechian, a researcher based at Paris-Sorbonne University conducted the study over a period of three years. During that time he had two women apply for job offers that he found online. According to The Telegraph, both women had similar looks with near identical skills and experience on their CVs. Each woman applied for 100 roles wearing a revealing outfit and 100 jobs in a more conservative look.
There were 200 applications sent out and the low-cut submissions garnished a not-so surprising 62 more interview offers than their counterparts. From the 200 accountancy applications there were 68 more interview offers for the more provocatively-dressed candidate.
“Regardless of the job, whether customer-facing saleswoman or office-based accountant the candidate with the low cut clothing received more positive answers,” Dr. Kertechian told The Telegraph. “The results were quite shocking and negative but not necessarily surprising – they show we need to conduct more research.”
Kertechian will present the full findings of the study at the Appearance Matters Conference — the world’s largest event on body image and disfigurement — being held this week.
