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"Should I go straight?"

"I need to look professional."

"Bottom line, I want to land the job, but I don't want to sacrifice my locks."

Your hair or your job? That is the question. Hair is usually the first item to get noticed in an interview. So what do you do if you wear dreadlocks and also want to work in corporate America?

Many black people have grown more comfortable with embracing hairstyles that emphasize the characteristics of their hair, and corporate America increasingly is more accepting of braids and short afros. But traditionally conservative industries such as banking and law still may turn you down if you don't look like what they perceive as executive material. Wearing braids or dreadlocks could be the deciding factor in whether you get the job--and, if you do get hired, getting promoted.

It really depends on the industry, says Berlinda Fontenot-Jamerson, director of diversity for Disney ABC Cable Networks Group. Fontenot-Jamerson was a longtime employee of Sempra Energy, No. 19 on The 2007 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity^® list. "Discrimination laws have begun to address appearance in more conservative companies. You see less of that in entertainment. It really depends on the line of business, and even today, [we've] seen much progress," she notes.

Rigid corporate offices usually require that their associates wear polished shoes, tailored business suits and a simple hairstyle. May Snowden, former vice president of global diversity at Starbucks Coffee Co., No. 45 on the 2006 Top 50, and a longtime diversity leader at Eastman Kodak, one of the 2006 25 Noteworthy Companies, says as long as hair looks neat, employers shouldn't have a problem with a black person wearing his or her hair in a variety of styles, whether it's braids or cornrows.

Are black men treated differently when it comes to hair than black women? Some say that black men face a greater challenge to "fit in," while others feel black women bear a larger burden because of dual discrimination--race and gender. For example, Fontenot-Jamerson believes black men are challenged regardless of their hairstyles. "It's not just hair. It's also looking too flashy or too radical," she says. She adds that fashion trends have allowed black women to be more flamboyant in terms of how they style their hair at work.

Snowden feels that, in general, it's difficult to say who is discriminated against more since less than a handful of black males have been promoted to CEO positions and even fewer black women are CEOs. "Black women have been very prominent in certain jobs, i.e., administrative, human resources, management, [but] not sales, marketing or any of the jobs that lead to CEO," says Snowden, now vice president of operations at Creative Wealth Alliance, a consulting company in Utah.

Despite these differences, most black people do feel the pressure to look professional, either by wearing their hair straight or in short styles. Snowden believes this pressure is part of being black. "I think that's part of our history, [but] we also put that history on ourselves. Black women have been preferring straight hair--that has been a big area to overcome. People are used to males wearing their hair short or natural; they're not used to the braids or the dreadlocks."

Discrimination based on hair and someone's appearance is much more complicated legally. The 1964 Civil Rights Act only prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, making it illegal to discriminate in any aspect of employment, including hiring and firing. So even if you are fired for wearing dreadlocks, discrimination on the basis of grooming is not discrimination on the basis of race. Existing civil-rights laws do not protect individuals against this kind of discrimination. Without written grooming policies giving employees permission to wear their hair in cornrows or other hairstyles, race may not be enough grounds for a lawsuit.

So the big question: Should you hide or change your hair to "fit in"? Depends on the company, so check it out before you apply--and look at how top managers, especially blacks, wear their hair. Then decide if it's the right place for you.

"People should not blindly take job offers," says Fontenot-Jamerson. "Make an informed decision. Do a lot of research before you take a job. Read web sites. Talk to people who work at these places. The more [research], the better, or you might run into racism."

Both May Snowden and Berlinda Fontenot-Jamerson were featured in DiversityInc's Women of Color DVD.

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