When it comes to sexism, women are not supposed to be the chauvinists.
But women are as likely as men to write off other females when it comes to the most intelligent jobs.
A study has found both sexes are less likely to recommend a woman for a job when it requires ‘brilliance’, as this is often considered a male trait.
A female is 25.3 per cent less likely to be recommended for a job than a man when the job description mentioned intellectual ability, according to the researchers.
Sexism begins in primary school, with little girls aged five to seven also less likely to pick other females for their team when told to choose clever children.
A study led by New York University asked more than 1,150 people to recommend two candidates for a job.
They were shown either a neutral job advert or one requiring a ‘high IQ’ and ‘superior reasoning skills’.
Men were less likely to choose women for the job requiring intelligence, but surprisingly so were women.
While almost two-thirds of women’s recommendations for the neutral job were other women, this fell to 54 per cent when the job required brilliance.
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