You’ve probably heard the well-known saying, “Dress for the job you want, not for the job you have,” but a new study from Dr. Sevag Kertechian of Paris' Sorbonne University may make you completely rethink this old adage. Dr. Kertechian’s research aimed to find out what impact clothing has on finding a job, and the results were pretty discouraging. He found that low-cut tops equal more job interviews for women.
Specifically, the study — which was presented at this week's Appearance Matters Conference in London — showed that women who wear low-cut tops are 19 times more likely to get a job interview in the fields of sales and accounting, according to phys.org. So how did Dr. Kertechian get these results?
Over the course of three years, when he saw job listings, Dr. Kertechian submitted applications on behalf of two women who have “similar looks” and almost identical résumés. He included photos of the women with the applications. In the photos, one was wearing a low-cut dress while the other wore a modest top. "Among the 200 sales-role applications, the low-cut dress submissions received 62 more interview offers than their counterparts," according to the results reported by phys.org. "From the 200 accountancy applications, there were 68 more interview offers for the more provocatively dressed candidate."
Isn't that depressing? While we certainly celebrate individual style, we also want to live in a world where our professional worth isn't based on looks.
Though the results are disturbing, they aren't altogether that shocking when you consider that most companies are run by straight (and white) men. In order to change sexist tendencies in the professional world and discriminatory hiring practices, there need to be institutionalised changes and more women calling the shots.