By Greg Smith
Everywhere I went in class, there they were. It got me thinking: why are there so many women doing PR?
In the 'old' days (which for me is about 20 years ago) most PR people were men. They were usually former journos who had decided to take a ride in a slower lane for what was usually better money.
These thoughts remained with me throughout the duration of my Masters Degree and have now morphed into my PhD research: the predominance of women in PR - a study based in the Western Australian capital of Perth.
The increasing numbers of women in PR is clearly a widespread phenomenon, with the trend evident in the UK, the US and Australia. In Australia we tend to be influenced by the American style of PR theory (why, I'll never know). Hence, much of my initial research focuses on work done by Grunig, Toth, Cine, Creedon and Childers-Hon. These studies concentrated on the 'Glass Ceiling' and 'Velvet Ghetto' theories, which dealt mainly with gender, women's position in management and salary-related issues. My study concentrates on the reasons why women are attracted to an already 'over-subscribed' industry.
Figures from Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate nationally the ratio of female to male practitioners (in private industry) is 74:26. The situation is similar in Perth, at 75 per cent women.
I surveyed more than 120 national PR firms, 26 in Perth, 31 Western Australian government departments that have PR staff, 16 Perth charities and four Perth universities that offer PR majors.
The statistics are consistent across all groups. For example, in government it's 71 per cent female, while in private practice it's 74 per cent, and 75 per cent in charities. At the universities it varies between 61 and 77 per cent.
A total of 78% of the professionals said they were aware most of those working in the industry were female. The most common reason put forward for the 'feminisation of PR' is that the industry is simply perceived as being feminine ('I see it is, therefore it must be'), with 10 respondents directly stating that. In conjunction with that theme, it is perceived as being glamorous and a 'soft' career option. The next most popular theory was that women have better communication skills.
Most practitioners thought PR did not have a balanced workforce, with 40 respondents saying it was not balanced, and 14 saying there was balance. The dominant group (women) was more aware of the phenomenon. Proportionally, more than 75% of females, compared to 50% of males thought there was imbalance. There were 42 comments received on this question. While most thought there was imbalance, they also commented that balance should not be achieved simply for the sake of equality. The best person for the job should be selected. However, the general concern is that imbalance does create problems, notably "a bias towards women's issues" (male respondent) and "lack of respect for the industry" (female respondent).
Overall, the comments received on positive aspects of having a more balanced workforce (and that includes more women in managerial positions) point to the industry achieving a "better dynamic" (f) and being "better able to represent a more diverse range of clients" (m). With 24 respondents directly indicating there should be a balance, there is clear evidence of concern. Overall, the feeling is that balance is necessary for a healthy industry.
Here is a summary of some of the results of my study.
- 73% see PR as a career, 25% as
a job, 2% that it may lead to something else - The most popular aspects of PR are:
1. Events management,
2. Media relations, Project management and community relations (equal). - Entertainment, tourism and fashion are the three areas of PR of most interest to students. Industrial, IT, financial, health and non-profits rated are low areas of work interest
- People, money, variety and creativity all scored equally as the most common reason why students chose PR
- Students thought the following made a good practitioner: Verbal skills (65 points), Organisational skills (55), strategic skills (46), planning skills (39), writing (33), media skills (17), listening (15), financial (0).
Clearly there is a long way to go before any conclusions can be made. However, I suggest the industry has to have a long, hard look at itself; particularly in the way it educates people, and to correct its own image.
More details on Greg's study can be found at http://members.westnet.com.au/gsmith/study
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