Leah D. Sheppard, an assistant professor at Washington State University, and Stefanie K. Johnson, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, mocked up articles about company layoffs that included photos of the executives announcing the cuts. They then had study participants read the articles, rate the honesty of the leaders pictured, and decide whether they should be fired. When the executive shown was a woman, people found her to be less truthful and more worthy of termination if she was also highly attractive. The conclusion: For women in business, beauty is a liability.
A version of this article appeared in the November–December 2019 issue of Harvard Business Review.
