Dr. Sarah van der Land, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media & Communication and ERMeCC researcher, was recently interviewed at Studio Erasmus about her research on LinkedIn profile pictures.
According to dr. Van der Land, recruiters are required to make decisions rather quickly, as they regularly have to work through a large number of applicants. Her research focused on the extent to which an applicant's profile photo on LinkedIn can be a decisive factor when it comes to an invitation for a job interview. Particular ques were important here, as the research specifically looked at things that people can influence in their picture: "If you are a man, you can decide to grow a beard, if you are a woman you can decide to wear glasses."
Dr. Van der Land's research showed that bearded men are significantly more likely to be invited for an interview for positions that require expertise. The same goes for women who wear glasses. In her Studio Erasmus interview, dr. Van der Land talks about her research and the outcomes and discusses several examples.
A video of the interview at Studio Erasmus can be found here. Please note that the interview is in Dutch only.