How do body modifications impact career opportunities in STEM fields?

[blackmage]

So i was thinking about getting a tattoo. I already have a septum piercing.
Next year I am starting my math major with a minor in physics. I'm hoping to get into research later down the path.
How are body modifications perceived in grad/post grad-school?
Do any of you have them?

 

[mfb]

I don't have them and they are rare, but I know people who do. Most people won't care as long as they are reasonable.

 

[Choppy]

I wouldn't worry about it.

Tattoos are pretty common these days. And as a general rule, people in academia tend to be more open-minded than the general population. Standard personal judgement rules apply though. I don't think anyone would blink a (judgemental) eye at the attached JPG on the original post. It might be different for a tattoo with content some people might consider objectionable.

 

[Dishsoap]

In my experience, grad students are disproportionally tattooed/pierced/have dyed hair compared to the general population in their 20s.

 

[robphy]

related threads:
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/tattoos-and-physics.915167/
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/tattoos-in-academia.877156/
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/tattoos-and-piercings-in-academia-and-beyond.699638/

 

[Vanadium 50]

I have three questions:

1. Does this involve piercing? Particularly in a sensitive area?
2. Do you plan to be working with high magnetic fields?
3. If 1 and 2 are both true, do you think this is a good idea?

 

[Dr. Courtney]

My perspective may be different since a lot of my professional experience is at conservative institutions (Air Force Academy, private schools, defense contracting). Most of these more conservative institutions have policies that require tatoos to be covered.

Even when I worked for a more progressive company (Cisco Systems), I don't recall a single person in R&D having any visible tatoos or body piercings. But I worked for a branch in the mid-west. The California experience at Cisco might be much different.

My general philosophy is that one does the best in free market systems by keeping the doors open to as many income opportunities as possible in terms of manner and appearance. Even though I'm not a drug user, my long hair was being interpreted by some potential business partners in the southern US as a "dope smoking hippy type." During the "Duck Dynasty" era in Louisiana, I was given a pass on the long hair and it did not seem to hinder anything I wanted to do. But about the time Duck Dynasty ended, I started branching out more (consulting business) into TX, GA, NC, SC, and AL. This started to bring some negative comments on the long hair. I cut it.