> I don't believe people are promoted one over another strictly due to performance, even when DEI isn't a consideration. I wish I could find the study but this

> I don't believe people are promoted one over another strictly due to performance, even when DEI isn't a consideration. I wish I could find the study but this one fascinating read pointed out that the greatest predictor of whether you'd get promotions/raises/etc. was whether or not you were 1) white, 2) male... Those 2 aren't surprising but then it continued: ...3) 6ft tall or taller, 4) "conventionally handsome" (very loaded to term I know), 5) well-groomed/dressed by whatever standards of the industry you were in. Height in particular had a ton of correlation. As you said, the meritocracy idea is kind of BS. It's a consideration, but it's not the primary consideration. Presentation appears to have an outsized effect, whether you control it or not.