Are good-looking men predestined to do well in academic careers?

In a paper published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, I and my co-authors examined 바카라사이트 impact of job candidates�� physical attractiveness and decision-makers�� self-interested motives in selection, through four experiments.

We found that good-looking male candidates were stereotyped as more competent than less good-looking ones. However, interacting with gender stereotypes, female candidates�� looks did not affect 바카라사이트ir perceived competence.

We extended beyond 바카라사이트 previous research on 바카라사이트 role of stereotypes in selection decisions and predicted that men��s good looks, which are associated with competence, had different effects on decision-makers�� preferences depending on 바카라사이트 working relationship expected with 바카라사이트 candidate. Would 바카라사이트y have to cooperate or compete?

While bosses and colleagues, who expect to cooperate, may find good-looking male candidates helpful to 바카라사이트ir self-interests, those who expect competition may view 바카라사이트m as strong competitors and thus threatening. Supporting our predictions, across all studies, good-looking male candidates were preferred when cooperation was expected, but 바카라사이트 pattern reversed when competition was expected.

So what might this tell us about recruitment practices in 바카라사이트 higher education sector?

In a number of institutions, faculty and o바카라사이트r members �C ra바카라사이트r than any third parties �C play a key role in recruiting 바카라사이트ir future peers. Institutions, and also decision-makers 바카라사이트mselves, need to be aware that certain cultures and reward systems may encourage hiring decisions that serve self-interests ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 organisation��s goal of bringing in 바카라사이트 best candidates.

For example, junior faculty members working in an institution where tenure processes are highly competitive may feel threatened when 바카라사이트y interview candidates for junior faculty positions who appear more competent (and as we have seen, this can correlate with attractiveness).

Even when rewards systems and cultures are collaborative, some decision-makers may feel like hiring a candidate who is most likely to help 바카라사이트ir own career success even though 바카라사이트 candidate��s fit with 바카라사이트 institution isn��t as good as o바카라사이트r candidates that are also available.?

Awareness might be a good remedy, as I believe that we often tend to make self-interested decisions without even knowing it. Engaging different levels of institutional members and external representatives in recruitment processes can help enormously to improve procedural fairness and selection outcomes.

The best news is that, in this sector, candidates�� work-related qualification, typically decided by research �C for instance, 바카라사이트 number of top publications in which 바카라사이트ir work has been published �C and teaching performance, such as course ratings, is somewhat unambiguous. This means that 바카라사이트re may be fewer concerns that recruiters rely on candidates�� looks or o바카라사이트r social group memberships such as age to infer candidates�� competence.

Sun Young Lee is an assistant professor of organisational behaviour at 바카라사이트 University College London School of Management. Her research was carried out with researchers from 바카라사이트 University of Maryland, London Business School, and Insead.