According to a new study conducted by the University of British Columbia, women with blonde hair are more likely to become the CEO of a company.
Results revealed that 48% of female chief executives are blonde, 35% of female politicians are blonde and the large majority of female university presidents, are, you guessed it, blonde. Whereas according to a 2005 study published in Slate, blonde males only make up a mere 2% of male CEOs. Hmmm...
The study was conducted by Natalya Alonso and Jennifer Berdahl who explained the results on their blog:
‘Our data suggests that blonde women are not only assumed to be younger than their darker haired counterparts, but are also judged to be less independent-minded and less willing to take a stand than other women and men.’
Berdahl continued, ‘In other words, Barbie can be CEO as long as she is young and/or docile, or being blonde might allow her to be older and more forceful than she otherwise could be'. Sigh.
And it only becomes more depressingly sexist as researchers Berdahl and Alonso asked 100 males to rate the same female leaders pictured with both blonde and brunette hair. The images were accompanied with quotes such as, ‘My staff know who the boss is’. They then had to give feedback and came to the overall conclusion that they considered the blonde woman to be more attractive than the brunette.
Whereas they would be more likely to recommend the brunette for a CEO role at a company. Pretty depressing, right?
The researchers further explained the results as they noted that they, ‘can be explained by race and age biases in leadership pipelines’.
So sadly age and levels of attractiveness continue to play a role in the workplace, as we strive to chip away at the seemingly unbreakable glass ceiling.
Pretty depressing news for a Monday, right?
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