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Summary: Women a PR super breed
Whether in the classroom or in workplaces, female presence is becoming more prevalent in the field of Public Relations. But as the trend increases, what is attracting women, especially to PR and why are they not holding the reigns yet? This blog will discuss these issues and more -- which I intend to research further to.
Women taking top stakes in PR in Kenya
Hello again. After a long break to do my research which
am yet to complete, I was excited to learn that more women seem to
be taking top stakes in Public Relations in Kenya. It reminded me
of a debate we had during my last semester at campus when some of
my colleagues argued that women will only work in PR, but they will
never run the industry.How interesting to learn from part of my research that some of the qualities that were named in the debate have given women a boost to excel in this profession in the east African nation. It emerged that the situation is not different here in terms of who dominates the industry. Just like other developed nations or as past studies have shown, there are more women than men in PR in Kenya.
From the perception point of view many people tend to believe that women perform better than men in PR due to better communication skills they have. I know some may disagree with this, but as said earlier in one of my posts women are naturally good at building relationships, multi-tasking, persuasion etc.
Apart from women running top agencies in the country, many are holding top or leadership roles in corporate organisations. HHmm!....It left me wonder if many will still continue to say that women can never run this profession because they don't have qualities.....your comments, thoughts and feedback are still welcome as this debate continues.
Will women rule in PR? The debate
In my previous
post, I talked about feminisation in PR. On this post I'll talk
about the debate which really got people emotional in class. The
motion: 'Women will always work in PR but never run it.' Mmhh! To
start with, I think this statement is just too exaggerated. I
opposed this motion because to use the word 'never' is not right. I
mentioned briefly about this in my previous post, that I strongly
disagreed because we had women running the industry even when it
was male dominated. I gave some examples in my earlier
discussion.Those who supported the motion, gave a list of qualities and past theories to justify why women will never run the industry. Some of their arguments included discriminating gender qualities to handling of PR jobs, such as lack of self confidence, occupational stress, soft to be managers and many more.
It was rather sad to hear a fellow female pursuing PR to say that "a lot of women think they have it but they don’t." If we cannot believe in and empower ourselves as women who will do it for us? This puzzled me. Just because there are many men at top positions does not mean that women will never achieve the same. Having many women run the industry is just a matter of time as change is already in the works.
To explain how this process is gradual, we must understand that it's only in recent years we have seen more women in PR. Larissa Grunig in Perspective on Public Relations, explained this in 5 feminist phases showing evolution of how women got accepted in this field.
They include:
1. Male scholarship - The field was mainly predominant by men. Despite women's contributions, their roles were ignored.
2. Compensatory -Progress was noticed, women's contribution and experience was accepted.
3. Bifocal - Both men and women perceived to be separate and equal sexes. Women trying to self actualise themselves and overcome sexism at this stage
4. Feminist -- Women were more confident here and their activities became central
5. Multi focal --this phase redefines the field and develops understanding of men's and women's experience to achieve knowledge and practice that's truly inclusive.
This means women have made great strides considering that in the past they had no rights. Currently we can see many associations, groups and organisations exclusively for female PR practitioners such as Washington Women in PR (WWPR) and the Women in PR Group for Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).
According to PR Week, articles and other studies, women now account for about 70 per cent in the industry, and many more are enrolling for degree courses in PR to equip themselves to add to the skills they already have. Fewer men are now joining PR. All this means women already have a strong base to fight the stumbling blocks to push their way to the top.
Feminisation of PR
I must say this
session was real fun. The subject was about feminisation of PR and
diversity issues. To begin with, the course tutor, Michaela O'brien
asked students to think about what makes a man and a woman.The aim behind this was to show how society associates some of these characteristics with different sexes. After deliberations, students realised that some of these characteristics could apply to both female and male. And that stereotypes were very strong, just how peope look at others and perceive them differently.
How could some of these be applied in the PR profession. More of these was deliberated at length during a heated debate which I was taking part in. The motion of the day was "Women will always work in the Public relations industry but will never run it". I was on the opposing side. Firstly, I would like to say I found this statement not to be correct as we already have women running the industry even in the past when the profession was perceived to be male dominated.
I backed this with examples of women heading big PR agencies like Fleischman-Hillard, Edelman and Ogilvy PR Worldwide.
My colleagues pointed out some of the characteristics such as emotional, soft,...etc to argue that women tend not to have what it takes to be in leadership positions. Ooops! did this actually come from fellow female students!
However, according to Larissa Grunig (2001), she has noted that women were perceived to be better communicators basically because they tend to build relationships, communicate with others, consider feelings of others and empathise with others. check out for more on this in my next post.
How are women in PR perceived?
Equal
rights is normally an issue at every workplace. The PR industry
is no exception. Although, I feel that it may be slightly
different in this profession. I may be wrong, but looking at the
salary gaps for men and women in public relations, this calls for
a bone of contention. Apart from salaries, battles in maternity
leave and the infamous glass ceiling have been an issue for some
time also. However, this may have changed in some companies, but
still continues to be an issue for debate.
The other day I was talking to a friend about the rise of women
in the PR industry. I asked him what he thinks about men and
women in this profession, his answer was, generally, women tend
to be better communicators and pursuasive as compared to men. It
doesn't mean that men are not good at communication, don't get me
wrong on this, but women seem to have better listening skills and
are more sensitive in facilitating two-way communication.
For instance, women are seen to be good at consulting because
they understand the value of relationships and emotions. Hey!
hey! hey! Now, that’s not to suggest that men aren’t good at that
-- Just that women tend to come by this more naturally, they are
biologically hardwired to want to make connections with people
and build relationships on trust and mutual respect, an important
skill in consulting. Mmhhh...don't shoot me on this guys.
What expressions are used?
As Catherine Arrow points out in her article on PR Conversations
"expressions such as ‘PR Poppet’, ‘Fluffy Bunnies’ and ‘PR
Bunnies’ are rife, and these, along with other descriptors..,
undermine and denigrate both the profession and women." This
shift in balance towards women tends to lead to much
stereotyping. In their study, Frohlich and Peters’ ("2007) in a
journal of Public Relations Research, reveals the
"evolution of a “PR bunny” stereotype that adds a negative touch
to the female image as “natural born communicators.”
Another observation is
that when some people think of women in PR they think of images
of Lizzie Grubman or Samantha Jones in the Sex and the
City. Stacy Nobles, management supervisor at Peppercom in
New York, argues in her article on TV portrayals of women in PR
are bad for our industry,published in PR Week (2005), that "to
have her (Lizzie) as the face of PR is frustrating to those of us
in the industry ... especially to the real "Power Girls." Mmhhh!
What is your view?
The salary gap irony
Many
women are migrating to the profession for several reasons. As
Greg Smith points out from his research, some people perceived PR
as a glamorous and soft career option.The irony is that, despite the increase of women in the industry, most of them tend to take long to climb to managerial posts.
In an article on 'The Missing Story of Women in Public Relations' in the fifth volume, Issue 3 of the journal (1993), Grunig L. A and Toth E. L point out that: "Further analysis of the dimensions by gender indicated that a combination of roles existed; the women managers did “it all,” for less money, and the men in technical roles more likely did managerial activities as well. The women technicians carried out technical tasks." (p. 153 -175).
A salary survey conducted by the PR Week as seen on table herewith shows evidence that men in the profession earned more than women. This has not improved much. It can be argued that men work longer hours as opposed to women who have to juggle between family and work denying them the opportunity to earn more money like their male counterparts.
Are women taking over the PR profession?
Historically, PR had been
perceived as a male profession, but this is changing. This
profession has undergone a significant demographic change in the
last 20 years with a majority of the workforce being women
(Lukovitz, 1989; Toth & Grunig, 1993).
With the influx of women now enrolling for degree courses -- a possible influence on public relations perceived as a female career, the trend has led to arguments that the PR profession is becoming feminised.
I happen to be in a class of over 30 students taking a postgraduate course in PR, and majority of my classmates are women. This small fraction may just reflect that the profession is being dominated by women and a steady increase in the numbers of women entering PR over the past.
According to Grunig. A. L. et al., (2004) in Women in public relations: how gender influences practice, “By their growing numbers alone, women have created opportunities themselves beyond what fields traditionally considered “female”, such as nursing and teaching, could have offered.” (p.4).
With the evident in the UK and US, the increasing numbers of women in PR is clearly a widespread phenomenon. But why is it happening? Personally, after working in media for several years, I felt I should move to PR, for a different experience, challenge and career growth. As I look to research further in this trend, feel free to comment. Your feedback and opinion is much appreciated.
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Date Approved: 05/10/2010
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