Female Silicon Valley CEO dyes her blonde hair brown to be ‘taken more seriously at work’

Brunettes have less fun

A female Silicon Valley CEO has admitted to dying her blonde hair brown in order for colleagues to take her more seriously.

Eileen Carey, who runs a software company called Glassbreakers, explained that she stopped wearing high heels, swapped contact lenses for glasses and started wearing gender neutral clothing in a bid to appeal to investors.

"The first time I dyed my hair was actually due to advice I was given by a woman in venture capital," she told the BBC.

She was told that investors would feel more comfortable with a brunette woman pitching to them.

Thirtysomething Carey confessed that dying her hair gave her greater confidence in the work place because it made her look beyond her years.

She believes that her natural hair colour infringed upon her success in the tech world because it characterised her in a sexual way.

"People are more likely to hit on me in a bar if I'm blonde. There's just that issue in general.

"For me to be successful in this [tech industry] space, I'd like to draw as little attention as possible, especially in any sort of sexual way," she said.

She might be onto something, given that 62 per cent of people think brunettes look more professional than blondes in the workplace, a 2009 study found.

Plus, recent research claims that one in four women are cautioned about their appearance in the workplace, in comparison to just nine per cent of men.

Things like wearing too much make up and sporting an inappropriately short skirt were cited as primary ‘distractions’ by participants.

The issues seem to be particularly prevalent in tech, with 60 per cent of women working in the industry experiencing unwanted sexual advances, claimed a 2016 survey.

Much has been written about the gender discriminations faced by women working in Silicon Valley, with female entrepreneurs awarded just $1.5bn in venture funding compared to the $58bn that went to their male counterparts, the New York Times reported.

Carey insisted that her decision was spurred on by an urge to be taken seriously as a businesswoman in a male-dominated industry.