Page 56 - Harvard Business Review, November-December 2018

I have a few. On one calf I have a campfire and on the other my favorite motorcycling road. On my

bicep I have a waterfall scene, and on the inside of my left forearm, I have a colorful arrow, which

I get lots of compliments on. I got my first one 10 years ago.

And sorry to get even more personal, but how old are you now?

57.

Hmm. What if all the employed people with tattoos only got them once they were established in

their careers—as you did? And that’s why they suffer no penalty?

We note in the study that we have no information on the timing of tattoos. It’s possible that when
you reach a certain earnings threshold, you say, “OK, I’ll get a tattoo now.” But the Pew Research

Center has reported that 38% of Millennials have tattoos. So we’re definitely talking about people

early in their careers, too.

What’s next in the eld of tattoo research?

We plan to use eye-movement tracking technology to see how people respond to photos of visible

and offensive tattoos. But honestly, I feel that if our findings can be replicated with different

samples, researchers should spend less time studying tattoos as they relate to employment and

earnings. We should study other potentially stigmatized groups and try to correct real, not just

perceived, biases.

A version of this article appeared in the November–December 2018 issue (pp.30–31) of Harvard Business Review.

Alison Beard is a senior editor at Harvard Business Review.

This article is about JOB SEARCH

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