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Women: is the Portia Hypothesis holding you back at work?

Women – how well are you doing in your career?  Do you feel you’re overly successful, or do you see yourself being held back for no real reason whatsoever?

Perhaps your issue isn’t with the work you do, but maybe it’s YOU.  All due to the PORTIA HYPOTHESIS.

People are the Name of the Game: How to be More Successful in Your Career--and Life
People are the Name of the Game:
How to be More Successful in Your Career–and Life

So what is the Portia Hypothesis?

THE PORTIA HYPOTHESIS IS THE THEORY THAT YOUR NAME PROVIDES BIAS in business.

What does that mean?  That having a gender-neutral name could be all you need to do to guarantee that you’ll move up and faster than if you have an extremely feminine or oft-mispronounced name.

People with easier-to-pronounce names are given more positive treatment than those with weird names.  Women with more masculine names were able to advance in the courtroom with ease compared to their female co-workers– sometimes as much as three to four times better.

Want to appear more intelligent?  Consider using your middle initial more often, as it adds a bit of authority, style to your message.

Is racial profiling merely based on a name a thing? Unfortunately it still is.  According to a 2004 study (linked in the above article), “white sounding names” were worth an additional eight years of actual working experience versus someone with equal skills and qualifications, but having a non-white sounding name.  Sad but true.

So parents – before you start considering how unique your child is by spelling their name with four M’s and a silent Q for no good reason whatsoever, maybe you should consider what their future may hold first.

It could pay off in dividends in the end.