Beauty Bias in College Grades: What This New Study Reveals About Looks and Learning

As some of you may know, I studied languages and literature at the University of São Paulo – Brazil.

Back in college, there was a professor of ancient Greek literature with a reputation that sparked endless gossip. He was brilliant and charming, known for his passion for the classics—and for giving top grades to a certain group of students. Whispers spread among classmates that attractive female students often received higher marks in his classes, which made me wonder: Was this just a coincidence, or was something more at play?

This lingering question came rushing back when I read a recent study that dives into a similar phenomenon, examining the link between physical attractiveness and academic success. Surprisingly, the study revealed that, yes, being attractive can indeed impact grades—but only in certain contexts. When the pandemic forced universities online, the beauty advantage faded for some students, suggesting a fascinating dynamic between appearance, perception, and learning environments.

Published in Economic Letters, the study examines whether beauty-based discrimination impacts academic success and how remote learning disrupts this dynamic. Conducted by Adrian Mehic of Lund University, the research focuses on five cohorts of Swedish engineering students, with data collected before and during the pandemic’s shift to online learning.

Here’s a closer look at the results, data, and what it all means.

Study Details:

• Sample Size: 307 engineering students from a Swedish university, across five different cohorts.
• Attractiveness Ratings: Based on evaluations from 74 independent raters.

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A Persistent Beauty Premium… But Only for In-Person Learning

Attractive individuals are often believed to have an advantage in success—higher earnings, greater life satisfaction, and now, according to this study, higher grades. However, the mystery deepens when these classes move online, with female students losing their beauty advantage in virtual settings, while attractive male students maintain it.

Key Findings:

• In-Person Instruction: A significant “beauty premium” was observed for both male and female students in face-to-face settings.
• Remote Instruction: This beauty premium disappeared for female students in online classes, while attractive male students continued to see better grades.

Discrimination or Productivity? Decoding the Beauty Premium

The findings raise an important question: is the beauty premium a result of bias or a byproduct of increased productivity?

1. Discrimination Hypothesis: In face-to-face settings, attractive students might be subtly favored by teachers, impacting grades, especially in courses that encourage more interaction, like business and economics. This effect dissipates when female students are viewed remotely, suggesting their in-person advantage may stem from appearance-based discrimination.
2. Productivity Hypothesis: For male students, the advantage persisted online, pointing to an alternative explanation. Attractive male students might experience a boost in productivity-enhancing traits like confidence and social skills, translating to better performance in group-oriented, creative assignments common in non-quantitative courses.

Course Type Matters: Quantitative vs. Non-Quantitative

The study highlighted that the impact of beauty on grades varied based on the type of course:

• Non-Quantitative Courses: These courses, which often involve projects and presentations, showed a clear correlation between attractiveness and higher grades for both genders during in-person learning. Here, the beauty premium for female students disappeared online, implying that interaction-based discrimination could explain their in-person advantage.
• Quantitative Courses: Math and science, primarily graded through exams, showed no significant beauty advantage. This aligns with the idea that objective assessments minimize biases related to appearance.

Why Do Attractive Male Students Thrive Even Online?

One of the most intriguing discoveries was that attractive male students sustained their performance advantage even in virtual settings. Mehic suggests that physically attractive men might naturally exhibit traits linked to productivity, such as perseverance and social influence, which could translate to academic success, particularly in non-quantitative coursework.

Supporting Data:

• Higher Confidence: Attractive people, especially men, often display greater self-assurance, which can lead to more active participation and resilience in academic settings.
• Enhanced Social Skills: Attractive students may also have better-developed social skills, which is beneficial in courses that involve teamwork or creativity.

Main Takeaways and Future Questions

This study not only highlights a beauty premium in education but also hints that the underlying reasons are complex and gendered:

• Female Students: Beauty-based discrimination may inflate grades for attractive female students in in-person settings, with this advantage disappearing online.
• Male Students: For males, the consistent beauty premium in both formats hints at productivity-enhancing characteristics like confidence and social prowess.

However, the mystery remains. Why does society ascribe traits like intelligence to attractive individuals or there are more factors at play? Mehic emphasizes that further research is needed to clarify the mechanisms driving appearance-based discrimination and productivity advantages.

Curious for more? Dig deeper into the science of our references”

Mehic, A., 2022. Student beauty and grades under in-person and remote teaching. Economics Letters.Available at:  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016517652200283X

Talamas, S.N., Mavor, K.I. and Perrett, D.I., 2016. Blinded by beauty: Attractiveness bias and accurate perceptions of academic performance. PloS one.