Silicon Valley CEO reveals she dyes her hair brown to be taken more seriously

The boss of a Silicon Valley company has revealed she dyes her naturally blonde hair brown to be taken more seriously in business.

Young CEO Eileen Carey said she also swapped contact lenses for glasses, no longer wears high heels and dresses herself in more gender neutral clothing in a bid to attract more investors to her start-up.

The businesswoman, who runs a software company called Glassbreakers, said she often meets other women in job interviews who have also darkened their hair to get ahead in the industry.

She told the BBC: “Being a brunette helps me to look a bit older and I needed that, I felt, in order to be taken seriously.

“The first time I dyed my hair was actually due to advice I was given by a woman in venture capital.

“I was told for this raise [of funds], that it would be to my benefit to dye my hair brown because there was a stronger pattern recognition of brunette women CEOs.”

Pattern recognition suggests people look for similar examples or people when making decisions.

According to California-based Ms Carey, when she was blonde she was likened to another fair-haired CEO whose company had faced controversy.

After speaking with other women who dyed their hair from blonde to brown, Ms Carey said: “We discussed that there's the fetishisation of blondes.

“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."

Ms Carey’s company works to offer companies software which can help boost diversity in the workforce.

It comes after a survey published in July this year found women are singled out for their looks at work far more than men.

The survey of over 2,000 Brits found one in four women have been cautioned about their appearance in the workplace.