Tall women often have the most successful careers

Are you always ‘that tall lanky one’ of the group? From now on, you get the last laugh, because tall people are said to be more successful.

And this is especially true for women. Tall women have the most illustrious careers, research shows.

At the top
Psychologist Jill Knapen researched the impact of height on someone's career. Just to clarify: when are you short and when are you tall? According to her research, men under 1.70 meters fall into the ‘short’ category, and women shorter than 1.60 meters fall into that same category. ‘Greater height has more positive associations, for example with prestige and status, especially among men. Generally, tall men are also seen as better leaders and more intelligent,’ Knapen tells Quest. In other words: those tall people are more often at the top.

This means that shorter people, and then especially short men, automatically catch the other side. ‘They are seen as less suitable for leadership. Or less intelligent,’ the psychologist continues. In some ways, this can be explained by good old evolution. Those who are tall are stronger and survive more. Those who are short are the first to fall. And yes, as a leader, you would prefer that tall person who can stand a bit upright when disaster strikes. Very simplistic and long outdated, but people think more stereotypically than you think, you know. It all shows in the juicy numbers. Researchers calculated that a man of 1.83 meters earns over 155,000 euros more during a 30-year career than a man of 1.64 meters.

Earned
The joke is: many studies have shown that taller men indeed hold leadership positions more often, so it makes sense that people have that association. But whether those tall people actually deserve that successful career is another question. They earn that huge job just as much as shorter people. Because smarter or better? They are not necessarily, of course.

Source: VU