In today’s culture, attending a four year university has become a prerequisite for a successful and long lasting career. As more and more students graduate college and enter the workforce with a degree of some sort, many struggle to put themselves ahead of the crowd in any type of way.

Although there are many options when it comes to strengthening your resume, many studies have discovered, illustrated and proven that many individuals are born with a natural advantage: being tall.

At first glance, an individual’s height does not seem to be a distinctive advantage over others.

“I think being tall makes you stand out more, but other than that I don’t think it gives any distinct advantage,” said Dylan Jake, a junior at Granite Bay High who stands well over six feet.

However upon further review, a plethora of benefits are uncovered.

When taking into account the fact that this concept is not very well known, it may appear that these findings are rather recent, but in reality this phenomenon has been intriguing scientists for decades.

In the late 1960s, Thomas Gregor, an anthropologist at Vanderbilt, traveled to several countries and observed whether or not height was seen as valuable within groups of people living in undeveloped regions.

“In no case have I found a preference for short men,” Gregor wrote in a travel journal in the ’60s.

Gregor’s discoveries confirm that individuals have a subconscious bias towards taller people. This very same bias is very apparent in today’s society and has direct effects on many aspects in a person’s life such as their career and income.

The increasing of earnings due solely to an individual’s height is referred to as the “Height Premium.”

This undeserved advantage was calculated in a study performed by psychologist Timothy A. Judge and researcher Daniel M. Cable – they discovered that every inch of height results in an average increase of $789 dollars per year.

To put these results into perspective, when considering the difference in salary between a 5-foot-6-inch man and a man who is 6 feet tall. The man measuring at 6 feet will annually earn $5,525 more than the 5-foot-6 individual, every single year.

While this undeniable bias or height premium if you will appears to be rather far stretched it is supported by many statistics located throughout society such as the fact that over 50 percent of Fortune 500 companies have CEOs that stand tall at above 6 feet.

“Tall men make more money” is a statement which has not only been proven but has brought about a large number of explanations.

The viewpoint that is most supported by research and evidence is that taller people are raised to be more intelligent and have greater social skills.

According to recent research, tall people are more likely to have grown up being well nourished and living in a healthy environment, which plays a large part in an individual’s ability to reach their full potential as adults.

While people of the shorter stature are found at a slight disadvantage, all is not doomed when it comes to being successful.

Oxford University clinical psychology professor Daniel Freeman told The Guardian newspaper that “it’s obvious that you can have great success whatever your height; it’s just that greater height confers a bit of an advantage.”

Taller people might be considered lucky as they have received slight advantages in the workforce. However, being short also comes with its perks such as having fewer health problems and, in general, living longer.

No matter what height or general disposition people find themselves in, overall success still relies mostly on an individual’s willingness to put in the hard work and time necessary for ultimate success, so individuals who find themselves below the 6-foot bar should not be discouraged.