The Discrimination against Attractive Women Seeking Senior Management Positions - Research Proposal Example

Diversity in the Workplace Instituon Diversity in the Workplace The Discrimination against Attractive Women seeking Senior Management Positions Introduction From past centuries, societies all over the world have always attached beauty to other positive characters. Even in the past, attractive people of both genders always benefited by getting more attractive, or wealthy spouses, or even being chosen as leaders in different capacities. This tendency to favor those who were born with good looks is still seen in the workplace today. Past studies have established that attractive workers are usually paid higher wages than their plain colleagues. In addition, unusually handsome or beautiful workers are more likely to benefit from higher ratings in matters such as admission to senior political positions, when bargaining in business matters, and even in consideration for admission to elite schools or colleges. In many societies, attractive suspects usually garner more favorable outcomes when arraigned in court. Attractive women are, in particular, more likely to benefit from the attentions of male supervisors or managers. It is a recognized fact that exceptionally attractive women tend to attract the interest of male colleagues, as well as the senior management. While such attention can turn into sexual harassment, it is more common for the men in positions of power to seek to mentor such women- thus offering them opportunities that are not due to their qualifications, but are based on their looks. This type of subtle discrimination, which is also known as lookism, is prejudiced against plain, or unattractive people. However, it can also turn against the very people that normally benefit from it. Recent research into the effects of ‘lookism’ in the workplace has indicated that there are circumstances where attractiveness can be detrimental to female workers. Identified as the ‘beauty is beastly’ factor, this oddity occurs when attractive women pursue positions in jobs that are identified as being traditionally ‘masculine’. Beautiful women who apply to be construction supervisors, or mechanical engineers, for example, have to deal with a lot of stereotypes that contend that they are too ‘delicate’ to successfully tend to their responsibilities in such jobs. Background and Problem Statement It is an undeniable fact that beauty plays a huge role in any society. There is also a rather common standard of what is presumed to be beautiful in societies all over the world. In almost all societies in the world, attractiveness is interpreted in terms of possessing an alluring face, and certain body proportions. There are numerous examples that have shown the significance of good looks in all kinds of societies. For example, in the presidential election of 1960, voters listened to, and watched, Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy spar verbally on radio and television. Radio listeners were certain that it was Nixon who would make a better president, because he made good arguments to support his positions on various matters. When the event was televised, though, it was John F. Kennedy’s attractiveness that won the voters to his points of view. A similar case of ‘lookism’ is evident in competitive professional Tennis Circles. Anna Kournikova, who is a professional Tennis player, and has not won many Tennis championships, receives far more attention from advertisers who wish to use her to endorse their products than celebrated players like Serena Williams. It is obvious that this is because most of society considers Kournikova as being more aesthetically pleasing than Serena Williams (Warhurst, van den Broek, Hall, and Nickson, 2009). There are factors that play into the consideration of attractive people for positions of seniority in organizations. For example, society is responsible for supporting attitudes that cause employers to favor those who are attractive at work. This means that changes to this tendency can only be effected if society is encouraged to change its attitudes to those who may not necessarily be considered as being attractive. Such change is also likely to be realized in circumstances where even those who are attractive are exposed to stereotypes about their ability to perform in certain jobs. Research Aim and Objectives This study aims to increase research into different perceptions about the discrimination caused by ‘lookism’ beyond the domains of ethnicity as well as race. It also aims to establish how conscious the ordinary worker is about the realities of lookism, and its positive as well as negative effects on attractive male and female workers, and their plainer counterparts. Research Questions a) Are workers usually conscious that in many workplaces today, appearance discrimination is a genuine problem? b) Do workers tend to seek ways of establishing that ‘lookism’ is a positive, and not negative aspect that is considered in employment? c) How often do the participants feel that appearance discrimination played a significant role in the choice of applicants to fill various roles in the company? d) Do the participants catch themselves considering the appearance of other workers when making choices on who to assign responsibilities, or even consider for promotion, without realizing it? Hypothesis The individual who believes that he or she is a victim of lookism in the workplace may not be able to prove this claim in a court. The only way to discourage ‘lookism’ would be to encourage greater awareness about the importance of hiring workers on the basis of their capabilities, experience, and talents; and not their attractiveness. Literature Review- Theoretical Framework Different types of capital, such as aesthetic capital, have always been unequally distributed in societies all over the world. Essentially, lookism is identical to classism, ageism, and racism, in that it fosters unfair barriers to any prospects of achieving equal opportunity for all people in work organizations. Lookism extends beyond past recognized forms of cognizable discrimination in its expression of formerly underappreciated biases. Lookism is also hard to deal with because it is often subject to personal sensitivities. Discrimination practices against people of particular ethnic backgrounds is quite easy to deal with, ot outlaw because it is easier to discern. Lookism is harder to deal with because it is not as rigidly defined, and is subject to the preferences of assorted people and subcultures. The horns effect and halo effect describes a cognitive bias that makes it possible for one trait, namely, the bad (horns), or good (halo), to eclipse other behaviors in the estimation of others (Tietje and Cresap, 2005).  In the workplace, this translates to attractive people being perceived to be more industrious, intelligent, pleasant, and hardworking than their plainer counterparts. Conversely, plain, or even overweight people are presumed to be lazy, even in the absence of any substantiation of this fact. According to Tietje and Cresap (2005), businessmen today like to project images of being youthful, fit, and healthy, in order to be perceived as being capable, professionally. Women also benefit from a lot of favour in the workplace, due to lookism. However, lookism, for attractive female workers, can be a double-edged sword. According to Bello (2004), women can be perceived to be too aesthetically pleasing to be suitable for professions such as are found in the construction industry. Interestingly, unattractive women are accepted into such professions without much contention. There are many organizations that make attractive young female workers operate as receptionists, or in supportive capacities, as tea girls, so as to be able to add value, in the estimation of others, to the corporate brand. This may benefit such companies’ images; but, it does not assist or develop the careers of the young women in question (Nickson, Warhurst, and Dutton, 2005). The self confidence of women who are put in such positions is seriously shaken, and they may even doubt their own capabilities and start to tailor their expectations to suit their circumstances. Their male peers who may be as handsome as they are beautiful, though, do not experience such trials. They advance quickly through the ranks, and benefit from the support of self sacrificing spouses who cater to their personal needs, thus leaving them free to dedicate themselves fully to their jobs. There are other professions that even use the attractiveness of beautiful women to undermine their accomplishments, or at least draw attention away from them. In politics, women like Margaret Thatcher, in the past, and Angela Merkel, at present, have had aspects of their bodies discussed in pubic forums in ways that have never been done where male politicians are concerned (Warhurst, van den Broek, Hall, and Nickson, 2009). Attention is thus directed to the sexuality of these powerful women, and not their political abilities. This then serves to lower the respect given to them in public circles. In such cases, the appearance of attractive women is used as a diversionary ploy by people who wish to remove from their power, even when they have achieved considerable economic as well as political exploits (Bello, 2004). It is quite demoralizing for even the attractive women who have achieved powerful positions to be discussed in such terms, or to have their dressing styles appraised and corrected. It is something that can discourage attractive young women from making the decision to pursue senior positions in any organization, because they feel that they are forced to shoulder more scrutiny than powerful men, who also happen to be attractive, are ever forced to face. There are numerous studies that have been conducted on the influence of ‘lookism’ in the workplace. According to Warhurst, van den Broek, Nickson, and Hall (2012) there is a study that was based on determining the effect of attractiveness in the workplace which proved that while attractive women may be favored in certain industries, they are regarded as liabilities in traditionally male-oriented industries such as finance. A different research showed that even in the service sectors, attractive women are allocated positions in secretarial, or administrative assistant capacities, even if they are qualified for more challenging positions (Warhurst, van den Broek, Nickson, and Hall, 2012). This then serves to negatively affect their confidence in their own abilities. For women, the reactions to attractiveness are quite different from those experienced by attractive men due to the way people are socialized. For example, a study established that beautiful women of all ages are not able to downplay their attractiveness if they wish to avoid the penalties that are attached to beauty in the workplace. A study demonstrated that men and women have different ways of perceiving the way people dress (Nickson, Warhurst, and Dutton, 2005). In regards to women, when they see a well-suited male worker, they will immediately presume that he is someone who holds a significant amount of authority, or is of a higher status. Men, who make up the majority of managers in all organizations, will only see the physical aspects of a person of the opposite sex. However, research has established that in professions where workers are expected to don neutral garments such as coats, this difference in perception can be mitigated. Another reason why attractive women can be rejected for positions, or even opportunities for promotion is due to a rarely openly discussed reality- female envy. Due to equal opportunity laws, most organizations today have female interviewers. These women, naturally, have to give their approval for all applicants, whether male or female, to be selected. According to a study documented by Jawahar and Mattsson (2005) it is not unusual for attractive female applicants to be left out of offerings that are available to attractive male applicants. It has been suggested that women can be extremely vicious to other women because they feel that they have to preserve their own positions against possible invasion from other women. It is difficult for even qualified women to find well paying jobs in numerous industries. Women are aware that beauty is priced by men, who usually hold all the positions of power in most organizations. They know that in the present business scene, it is not uncommon for male supervisors or managers to promote female subordinates for different reasons. Given that women have fewer openings than men in the majority of organizations, the women who have work for long in certain positions are aware that they could easily be replaced by younger, prettier, and more eager to learn women who are brought into the firm (Jawahar and Mattsson, 2005). This is one of the reasons why young female workers rarely have female mentors. Apart from having more responsibilities in the home than her male counterparts in the home, while still struggling to keep her job, the woman in question still has to work harder than her male counterparts in order to reserve her job. The reality of all these concerns would be enough to make any worker, whether male or female, balk at the prospect of hiring new workers, let alone befriending them. The reality is that women are socialized to react in subtle ways to provocations from male managers. From childhood, they have had to learn how to survive in a world that champions men’s needs over their own in different circumstances. This means that they have a higher tolerance for dealing with the indiscretions of men, whether in their personal or professional lives, than for dealing with potential problems that they suspect they might have to endure due to the presence of a fellow woman. This could be a reason why women are far more accepting of male junior workers who might supersede them in rank, in future, than of fellow women who may outrank them due to favoritism in the workplace. According to Warhurst, van den Broek, Nickson, and Hall (2012), handsome men benefit in ways that beautiful women in the workplace do not because of the perceptions of the majority of workers in organizations- most of whom are male. Many managers will not hire unusually attractive women to work for them due to what they may refer to as the ‘visual trap’. An extremely attractive woman will attract the attention of male co-workers even if she does not necessarily dress in inappropriate clothing. For supervisors, this reality translates to wasted man-hours which are spent in trying to garner the attention of the new worker. There is also the issue of the different perceptions of men and women on the subject of decency, or appropriate wear in the workplace. Men and women operate on different social cues in all circumstances. What men may perceive as being flirtacious, may be seen by women as merely being friendly. According to a study documented by Jawahar and Mattsson (2005), men and women have very different views of what is appropriate in the workplace. For men, the workplace calls for severely formal clothing which helps in focusing concentration on the appropriate work-related subjects. For women, even tight clothes can be appropriate because they do not reveal anything. Women are also more interested in being fashionable than men are. The different perspectives in what is considered as being appropriate, can cause tension in the workplace. According to Jawahar and Mattsson (2005) men are particularly sensitive to the behaviors of pretty co-workers. When attractive co-workers try to befriend others, this may be misinterpreted as being flirtacious behavior. Male workers may feel dumbfounded by such behavior because they feel that the power differentials are being undermined by this kind of activity. Women are not visually stimulated in the same way that men are, and so they may not react to handsome men with the same keenness that men react to attractive women. This reality, coupled with the fact that female workers will also not receive the new attractive worker as a fellow colleague, causes managers to choose average-looking employees in the interests of not antagonizing the labor force due to different reasons. Methodology This study will make use of quantitative as well as qualitative data collection methods. There will be interviews as well as surveys distributed to participants who have worked in some capacity in human resource departments of multinational corporations. Such individuals are the ones who are most likely to have experienced or witnessed the phenomenon of large scale hiring. They are the people who are likely to have observed how companies hire people from different ethnic backgrounds. Using participants who are human resources professionals is also beneficial because the participants can offer greater insight into how the process of hiring has been transformed over time. In all work organizations, the human resources department is tasked with ensuring that different kinds of discrimination do not take place in the workplace. For all the questions included in the survey and interview, research participants will be expected to explain their answers as comprehensively as possible. Every question will be presented in a way that makes it possible for further discussion to be considered. In this research, log income is the dependent variable, while attractiveness, gender, and position of influence are the independent variables. References Bello, J. D. (2004). Attractiveness as hiring criteria: Savvy business practice or racial discrimination? Journal of Gender, Race & Justice, 483, 504–505. Jawahar, I. M., & Mattsson, J. (2005). Sexism and beautyism effects in selection as a function of self-monitoring level of decision maker. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 563–573 Nickson, D., Warhurst, C., & Dutton, E. (2005). The Importance of Attitude and Appearance in the Service Encounter in Retail and Hospitality. Managing Service Quality, 15(2), 195-208. Tietje, L., & Cresap, S. (2005). Is lookism unjust?- The ethics of aesthetics and public policy implications. Journal of Libertarian Studies, 19(2), 31–50. Warhurst, C., van den Broek, D., Hall, R., & Nickson, D. (2009). Lookism: The New Frontier of Employment Discrimination? Journal of Industrial Relations, 51(1), 131-36. Warhurst, C., van den Broek, D., Nickson, D., & Hall, R. (2012). Great Expectations, Gender, Looks and Lookism at Work. International Journal of Work, Organization and Emotion, 5(1), 72-90. Read More