3 Women 3 Ways

PRETTY IS AS PRETTY GETS: DO ATTRACTIVE WOMEN GET BETTER GRADES? I was a good student, I was good at soccer, I was vice president of the student council, I was a pretty girl. Evangeline Lilly Lilly doesn’t mention her grades, but if her experience is typical of that found in a recent study, she probably got higher marks than her less attractive female friends. Yep – pretty girls get better grades, according to an economics professor’s study of more than 5,000 college women. And it didn’t make a difference whether the grader was male or female. So what does this mean? Not only does this have implications from an academic point of view, but also from a social point of view. Does it diminish the all A’s the class knock out got? Does it make a difference to the less attractive woman who is working hard for those A’s? Or does it really change anything now that we know it happens? Rey Hernandez-Julian is an associate professor of economics at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, and he likes to use his economics lens to examine education. His previous research has included looks at how athletic achievement and course scheduling affect student performance in college, and he’s studied the relationship between school choice and outcomes outside of school. His PhD in applied Economics is from Clemson University. Join us as we look at appearance and grades for women. Call in to share your opinions and questions at (646) 378-0430. Live at 11 am Pacific time, or go to the website and listen to all our archived programs whenever you like at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/3women3ways