Actresses Who Are Picky Are More Likely To Survive In Hollywood, Study Shows

Picky actresses are more likely to survive in Hollywood, according to recent findings published in the American Sociological Review.

Researchers analyzed information from Internet Movie Database (IMDb) data of more than a million performances in about 100,000 actors and actresses in the American film industry. They discovered that working more often with less connected and more diverse groups helped women become more successful in the field.

"The career opportunities for actresses are more likely to dwindle if they work in homogeneous teams," lead researcher Mark Lutter, the head of the "Transnational Diffusion of Innovation" Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG) in Germany, said in a news release.

Working in certain genres can oftentimes make it more challenging. They found that women who tried to break into what's referred to as the boys club, or senior positions that are dominated by men, were more likely to drop out quicker.

"I suspect that women suffer when they are frequently part of homogeneous teams because they might enjoy a much lower degree of active support from mentors than men, and their professional friendship networks might also give them access to fewer contacts in positions of power," Lutter said. "This would mean that they are likely excluded from important sources of information about future projects."

"So rather than relying on close circles and personal friendships, women should focus on developing diverse networks of relationships outside their own circle," added Lutter. "By and large, they should take a more strategic, considered approach to their decisions concerning future projects if they want their careers to benefit."

"In this day and age, work very often takes place in project teams, the film industry being a prime example," Lutter said. "Those involved in filmmaking move along from project to project -- working together for a limited period of time and then going their separate ways -- like many freelancers in the creative professions, but also not unlike many people working for larger corporations. My research highlights strategies women can use to increase their visibility in these job markets, as well as steps employers interested in advancing women's careers can take when creating project teams."