Looking sexy 'disadvantage' for women in business

Attractive women in business world, like lingerie brand Ultimo's founder Michelle Mone, face disadvantageous gender recognition in entrepreneurship.

By Ko Dong-hwan

• Published Mar 11, 2014 6:28 PM KST
• Updated Mar 11, 2014 6:28 PM KST

Looks help men get ahead in business, but attractive women face a battle to climb the ladder, the Daily Mail said Monday.

A study showed investors are more likely to put money into ventures if the man making the pitch is handsome.

However, female entrepreneurs blessed with good looks are no more likely to be successful than their less physically endowed counterparts.

The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also suggest there is a glass ceiling for women in the corporate world because backers prefer presentations from men.

In Britain, just four FTSE 100 companies have female chief executives, and 90 percent of growing venture capital firms in the U.S. are founded or led by men.

Researchers at Harvard Business School recruited 60 experienced and affluent backers to view video recordings of 90 randomly-selected verbal business pitches made by entrepreneurs from various business sectors at three contests in the U.S.

The investors, unaware of each contest's outcome, were asked to rate the looks of the entrepreneurs.

Among the women, those who were deemed attractive were not necessarily the most effective speakers. Conversely, attractive men were thought to give the best presentations.

The panel also found male voices were much better at securing deals than female ones.

Alison Brooks of Harvard Business School said, “We identified a profound and consistent sex gap in entrepreneurship ― a central path to job creation, economic growth and prosperity.”

Brooks also said, “These findings fundamentally advance the science related to sex, physical attractiveness, psychological persuasion, bias, role expectations and entrepreneurship.”