Overweight Men OK, Overweight Women Not OK For Top Jobs

this same glass ceiling does not seem to apply for overweight men

A new research project recently published in the journal Equal Opportunities International shows that overweight females are largely absent from top level positions in large American companies. The researchers said that while there are not that many female chief executive officers anyway only around 1/5 of them are overweight compared to almost 1/3 of women in the general population.

Interestingly however this same glass ceiling does not seem to apply for overweight men. In fact 45 percent of male chief executive officers are classified as overweight which compares with only 31 percent of the overall male population. Put in simple terms if you are overweight and a man you have no problems in getting to the top of your career, however if you are overweight and a woman you are restricting your chances of further promotion.

The research done by Professor Patricia Roehling at Hope College and Mark Roehling of Michigan State University is sure to raise questions about the discrimination that women face in the workplace. They said that there appeared to be more tolerance and even a preference for men being overweight in the workplace but a discrimination against women in the same companies. Other research points to the fact that sometimes overweight men are given higher salaries than slimmer men.

Interestingly however those executives whether they were male or female who were very overweight and categorised as obese meaning they had a BMI of 30+ were both discriminated against negatively.  It was seen that while overweight men could happily take the top jobs in many companies if they became too overweight and became obese their representation in the boardrooms of top companies was diminished.

Another thing to consider is whether the obesity itself caused the lack of promotion due to the resulting lack of confidence that being very overweight brings on, or whether it was a direct result of discrimination and negative perceptions from the employers. Whatever the case the fact is that obesity restricts your full potential and could be the reason why you don’t have the top job.