ADMISSIONS HEIGHT REQUIREMENT FOR BUSINESS SCHOOL IN VIETNAM WAS SHORTSIGHTED
I love being tall, except for those occasions when I crack my head on a low doorway, pipe and even the occasional crossbeam. Well, and there was that window frame the other day. But being tall is pretty helpful, over all. But I’ve never really thought all that much about feeling more confident for being tall. To be fair, it’s been awhile since most people were taller than me. So I just can’t remember it being a concern. But some people think height is really important, maybe even too much so. And some school officials at a business school in Vietnam certainly seem to. They made a minimum height requirement for admission so their students (and grads) would have more confidence in the world!
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MINIMUM ADMISSIONS HEIGHT REQUIREMENT WOULD HAVE EXCLUDED ALMOST HALF OF ALL APPLICANTS
And yes, a lot of people thought that was a really bad, discriminatory idea. And the negative reactions took off on social media after the School of Management and Business (or HSB) at the Vietnam National University in Hanoi announced the height requirement. Namely, that male students be at least 5’5”, and women students 5’2” tall. Just to be considered for admission! Just imagine having to list your height as a requirement to apply to a higher education program! And the angry criticism took off to such a degree that the Ministry of Education had to step in and overrule the idiotic, “short”sighted requirement.
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EXPERTS DON’T SEE ANY REALIZED CONNECTION BETWEEN HEIGHT AND CONFIDENCE, EVEN IN BUSINESS
HSB quickly backtracked, reversing the new anti-short people admissions criterion. But one course is keeping the minimum height requirement, the Management and Security class. That has a certain logic, as you want people to have a certain physical capacity of size to maintain security in dicey situation. It seems that social psychologists need to do a better job convincing everyone that the connection between height and self-confidence is tenuous, at best. Considering that the average height of men in Vietnam is 5’6’, and women 5’1”, the school’s policy would have excluded nearly half of all potential applicants.
Strange days in Education news!
