It is definitely still a man's world

A study done by researchers at the University of Florida has confirmed what many people suspect in that thinner women get promoted more quickly but more importantly it has clearly shown that they also get paid considerably more than their overweight colleagues. The researchers said that on average the very slim women took home around $15,000 more than those women of a normal weight, and overweight women were penalized even further by making an average of a further $14,000 less.

The research which was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology also looked into whether very slim, average weight and overweight men earned different amounts and it showed that for men the opposite applies. For example the normal weight men tended to earn about $8,500 more than the skinny men and the overweight men earned even more with a positive correlation between BMI and earnings being recorded right up until the men became obese, in which case the graph started to record lower earnings.

The Journal of Applied Psychology said that they had seen other research which showed that the men who earned the most amount of money on average were those who weighed 207lb.

This research shows up the harsh reality of life which is that appearances count for a lot in business and that whether women like it or not to a certain extent the way they look can influence their pay package and their promotions. It is definitely still a man's world in that he can get almost as fat as he wants and still climb up the corporate ladder and get paid more and more as he does. Provided that the man doesn't actually become obese he is still in the running for promotion and a pay rise.

The study did not however explain exactly why women of thinner weights got paid different amounts. It could be that there is a negative perception from employers to overweight women and that is why they didn't get paid more, but it could also be that overweight women don't have the same amount of confidence in their abilities as their skinnier colleagues and therefore they tend to hang back and don't reach their full potential.

Maybe it's a bit of both?