Uh Oh. If You're Shorter Than 5' 9''... | Golden Skate

Uh Oh. If You're Shorter Than 5' 9''...

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
I am only 5' 1", no wonder I am not a "roaring success" in the business world! Read this!

..you could be making less--a lot less--than if you were taller. When it comes to salary, status, and respect, people who are short are short-changed in the work world.

Tall people earn more money--as much as $789 more a year in pay for every one inch of height--than their shorter colleagues, according to a new study from the University of Florida and the University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill. This pay differential based only on height is especially pronounced in management and sales positions.

Think $789 isn't all that much? Think again. Even after accounting for gender, weight, and age it means that someone who is 7 inches taller, say 6-feet vs. 5-foot-5, would be expected to earn $5,525 more annually. If you add this up over the course of a 30-year career and compound it, it's literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of earnings' advantage that a tall person enjoys.

"Height matters for career success," Florida researcher Timothy Judge wrote in the news release announcing the study he lead along with UNC's Daniel Cable. "These findings are troubling in that, with a few exceptions such as professional basketball, no one could argue that height is an essential ability required for job performance nor a bona fide occupational qualification."

The study: The two professors analyzed the results of four large-scale research studies, three of which had been conducted in the United States and one of which was done in Great Britain, that followed thousands of people from childhood to adulthood. Numerous details of their personal and professional lives were examined. The average height of Americans is 5 feet, 9 inches for men and 5 feet, 4 inches for women.

The results: People who were tall received higher subjective ratings of work performance, including supervisors' evaluations of how effective they were on the job. In addition, the objective measures of performance, including sales volume, were higher for tall people. Height is even more important than gender in determining salary, and its effect does not wane with age.

Why does height matter? Professors Judge and Cable speculate that being tall may have the effect of boosting employees' self-confidence, which might help them to be more successful in the workplace. In addition, others may ascribe more status and respect to a tall person. For example, tall sales people who are admired by customers may be seen as more persuasive leaders and may be able to negotiate more effectively. As a result, customers may be more likely to buy from them. "If height has the social status we think it does, it stands to reason that tall people would sell more cars because they're seen as a more authoritative source on the matter," Judge explained.

"If we have a bias against short people and that bias is not shared by other countries, we have placed ourselves at a competitive disadvantage," he said. "If we're giving great weight to an attribute like height that's irrelevant to performance on the job, then we're introducing error in our hiring and promotion decisions that causes inefficiencies in our economy."

The study findings will be published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.




http://cdn-channels.netscape.com/cp/fte/shortpeople/i/shortpeople135.jpg
 

Kara Bear

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Then why hasn't my height (I'm 5'10") helped me find a job.
I guess it must be that I'll make lots of mmoney when I get one. ;)
 

Piel

On Edge
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
My mother and sister are both 5 ft. and I am 5'8''. In high school I hated being tall plus you could never find pants legs long enough. Now I can't imagine NOT being tall.


Piel
 

Piel

On Edge
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
You are on the lucky end. You can always alter to make things shorter but when they are too short to begin with you are stuck. I do sympathize though. I am short bodied all of my height is in my legs.

Piel
 

Ptichka

Forum translator
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
I am 4'10". Yup, really short. When I buy pantyhose, they don't even list heights below 5'0"!!!

I have read all those studies regarding height and business success. That's why I am glad I am a software engineer, where the criteria are far more objective. Even though the field is very male-dominated, we have recently have a female engineer about my height promoted -- she is now a manager over about 100 people! So proud of my company!!! :)

As for alterations... Once, I was a bridesmaid. A dress I got, even in size 0 -- I had to rip apart ALL THE SEAMS and take them in. And it was a princess line dress!!! Plus, I had to cut about 9" off the bottom, and it was a REALLY full dress; the hemming had to be done manually, otherwise it would have looked really ugly. Thank G-d my mom and I can sew -- otherwise, alterations alone would have cost me about $100. :(
 
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mpal2

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
But men tend to be taller than women so is it height or is it sex? How did they determine that it was more important then gender? :confused:
 
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Many years ago in anatomy lab, I stood on a box that was about 6-8" high so I could get a better look at the cadaver (I'm 5'2" so the box made me about 5'8" to 5'10"). The longer I stood there and started speaking to other people, the more I started realizing, "Wow, things sure look different from up here!" and started wondering about how different my life might have been had I been tall. As a dancer, I saw a tendency first in college by dance faculty (who tended to be tall), then in companies by directors and choreographers (who, guess what, tended to be tall) to see taller female dancers as more intelligent, creative, and responsible, whether they were or not. Of course personalty had a certain amount to do with it. Ironically, however, at least in college, among the students of each year there seemed to be a more accurate assessment of each other's abilities. Anyway, I remember feeling very different in the way I interacted with people standing on that box.

The same bias holds true for good looking people. There was a show on the Discovery Channel about looks bias, which included height, and some anthropolgists feel it goes back to having certain characteristics that make you a good candidate for breeding strong offspring. Fifty thousand years ago, being tall meant you could see over higher grass and seem more imposing to an enemy--a definite advantage. Of course, these are average findings among average jobs based on average personalities. Someone already mentioned Danny DeVito--and lest we forget Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman, Martin Scorsese, Joe Pesci, and Robert Redford, to name just a few "big men" in Hollywood who are quite short. Also, somehow I don't think Michelle Kwan's height is ever going to hold her back no matter what she does. But I must say, there are times when I wish I had that box, lol.
Rgirl
 

skatepixie

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 2, 2003
My reply-NOT IN SKATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW-MK, at 5'5", is taller than average.

At 5'3", I actually like my height. If I had a choice between taller or shorter, Id choose shorter over taller. Reason-I want to skate pairs.
 

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
I really don't know what they base this on. There are plenty of successful short people in the world. I think it has more to do with confidence. I have always been shy and lack confidence. I think a better study is needed.
 

eliza88

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 6, 2003
I to am vertically challenged! I am a tad over 5'1". I can sit much more comfortably on an airplane then my husband (6'1")!

For some reason everyone always thinks I am taller, perhaps I walk with authority!! However I can't count how many times I am friends with someone (a male co-worker) and months later he will be standing next to me and suddenly exclaim, "Wow your short! I never realized how tiny you are!" Then they usually start using my head as a place to rest their long weary limbs! I am so used to looking UP at people when talking to them that when I am actually talking to someone my size or shorter it feels really weird!

I finally discovered shopping in the Petite Dept! Wow, long sleeve shirts that stop at my wrists and end at just the right place on my hips! Skirts that I don't have to roll up at the waist or get tailored!

eliza88
 

kemy

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 20, 2003
skatepixie said:
My reply-NOT IN SKATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW-MK, at 5'5", is taller than average.

At 5'3", I actually like my height. If I had a choice between taller or shorter, Id choose shorter over taller. Reason-I want to skate pairs.

MK is only 5'2". Sarah Hughes is 5'5".
 

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
I am 5'1" and always have to stand on something to reach the cupboards or hope no one tall sits in front of me at a concert or theatre. I too shop in the petite dept.
 
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