Unfair bias: Social media impression impacts women’s job prospects

Female applicants for scholarships or jobs face unfavourable evaluations when decision-makers view “sexy” social media photos of them, highlighting a potential bias generated in the professional selection process.

According to a study by Cornell psychology researchers titled Sexy Social Media Photos Disproportionately Penalise Female Candidates’ Professional Outcomes: Evidence of a Sexual Double Standard, a “sexual double standard” is ingrained in conventional gender norms, where men’s assertiveness is seen as strength while women engaging in similar behaviour are judged negatively.

The study’s corresponding author, Vivian Zayas, Professor of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University, commented, “You’re thinking about professional and academic outcomes, but you’re also thinking a lot about social outcomes. And when you’re using social media, you’re thinking about it in the context of communicating with your friends. And because that’s so salient, it’s easy to post photos that you don’t realise might have negative effects on other domains.”

“Women are more likely to post photos than men. That is a way women might want to try to get validated, but at the same time, there’s a potential penalty.”

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The researchers conducted four experiments involving scholarship and job selection. Female candidates were favoured when shown in semi-professional attire, but this preference significantly declined when depicted in sexualised attire. In one study, three times as many sexualised men were chosen over women. Similar biases were observed when hiring professionals evaluated candidates for a junior consultant position.

“Some might argue that posting a provocative photo of oneself on social media reflects poor judgement,” she concluded. “But our findings suggest that that inference of bad judgement penalises women much more than men.”