People born during the summer are less likely to be CEOs, according to a new study from the University of British Columbia.
The study investigated the birth month of 375 CEOs from S&P 500 companies and found a significantly lower amount of CEOs were born in June and July compared to other months.
June babies accounted for six percent of CEOs, while July babies made up only five percent.
Babies born in March and April were most likely to be CEOs, accounting for 12 percent and 10 percent of the sample respectively.
Sauder School of Business professor Maurice Levi explained the “birth-date effect,” a phenomenon based on the way children are grouped by age in school, was to blame for the discrepancy.
The pattern is due in part to the cutoff dates that US schools use to determine when children start kindergarten.
Because the cutoff generally falls between September and early January, summer babies are usually the youngest in their class. Those born in April enjoy a somewhat higher likelihood of becoming a CEO because children born in that month are sometimes held back a year, making them the oldest in their class.
“Older children within the same grade tend to do better than the youngest, who are less intellectually developed,” Levi said. “Early success is often rewarded with leadership roles and enriched learning opportunities, leading to future advantages that are magnified throughout life.”