Study Suggests That Graduating College With High Grades May Not Help Women Land Jobs 

On Wednesday, Inside Higher Ed reported the findings of research appearing in the April issue of The American Sociological Review, according to which women who have recently graduated college may have a better chance of landing a job with moderate grades than with high ones.

The paper’s author, Natasha Quadlin, who’s an assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University, reportedly completed an “audit study,” where she submitted 2,106 applications for jobs suited to fresh college gradates. She ensured that the applicants’ grades, gender and majors were varied, and found that, for the male applicants, GPA didn’t much matter. Whereas women seemed to benefit from having a moderate GPA, not a high one. Applicants from high-achieving men received twice the employer responses as equally qualified female applicants.

Quadlin also found in a related study outlined in the same article that those tasked with making hiring decisions often value different traits in an applicant, depending on their perceived gender. For instance, employers value men who they see as competent and commited, whereas they value women based on “perceived likeability.”

In a press release, Quadlin said of the study’s findings, “This standard helps moderate-achieving women, who are often perceived as sociable and outgoing, but hurts high-achieving women, whose personalities are viewed more skeptically.”

I’m for lending a hand to women who achieve moderately and fucking over the patriarchy. Like all hard work, I hope that sort of project pays off.