Between 60 per cent to 75 per cent of PR specialists are women. Yet, they get lower salaries than their male colleagues and are governed by males, according to the report from Entrie.
However, this is shifting, but rather slowly.
Deborah Gray, founder at Canela, says, “The good news is there has never been a better time to enter the workplace as a woman. There are not enough of us in senior positions, but there are more than there used to be. And all of us owe a great deal to those who have gone before us and broken down the barriers. I think the best way we can repay that debt is to keep levelling up the playing field for the next generation.”
Stats of women in PR
Nine female PR leaders were asked by Enterie about the statistics in their countries.
For instance, the average number of women on staff in PR agencies in Spain is 72.8 per cent.
However, the percentage of women on board committees in PR agencies is 57 per cent.
In Portugal, 74.1 per cent of communication departments and agencies have a majority of women, but only slightly over one third of them have female leaders.
Things are even worse in the US, says the report, where there is an interesting gender imbalance in PR.
DeAnna Spoerl, co-owner at Bear Icebox Communications, a Chicago-based agency, says that roughly only 36 per cent of the field is male while a whopping 63 per cent is female.
However, the majority of leaders in PR are male.
“I believe this speaks to a much larger issue of females not getting the same opportunities to show leadership skills even in spaces where we dominate. And honestly, I wish I had an answer as to why this phenomenon continues to happen given the amount of effort put into stabilising the imbalance,” says Spoerl.
PR leaders promoting female employees based on merits & quality
While setting up their agency had always been a goal for some female PR leaders, for others like Shama Hyder, it meant creating her dream job. Shama is the founder of Zen Media, and she is also the author of one of the first books on social media, titled “The Zen of Social Media Marketing”.
“I wrote my graduate thesis on Twitter… when it had 2,000 users. It was the very early days for social media and digital marketing at large. It was so new that there were no jobs in the industry. The ‘industry’ barely existed, which is why I started Zen—I knew I’d have to create my dream job,” says Hyder.
Similarly, Martina Hausel, co-founder of Element C in Germany, was motivated by a desire to create a more inclusive work environment for working parents, reflecting a commitment to both professional success and personal values.
Magda Górak, founder of Profeina in Poland, recounts her decision to start her agency as a response to the limitations she faced in her previous workplace.
“Wanting to have children and work myself (which now I do), I decided to create a work environment where parents could have both growth opportunities and the necessary flexibility,” says Górak.
In addition to addressing gender disparities in leadership, female PR leaders are also reshaping traditional leadership styles.
Ranbir Sahota, Director at Vitis PR, emphasizes the importance of empathy and flexibility in leadership, particularly in accommodating team members with caregiving responsibilities.
“Female leaders want to promote other women and do understand the obstacles and frustrations they face,” adds Sahota.
Others, such as Raminta Lilaitė, CEO of Blue Oceans PR, highlight the collaborative and empathetic nature of female-led organizations, fostering a culture of inclusivity and mutual respect.
“In a truly female-led company, there are more joint decisions and participation in decision making of the whole team, more empathy and listening to each other,” adds Lilaitė.
However, as Alessandra Colao, founder of Doppia Elica in Italy, notes, leadership should not be defined by gender stereotypes but rather by qualities such as mentorship and coaching, which transcend gender boundaries.
“I’ve noticed a tendency to hire women rather than men. I’d have no objection to this trend if it were based solely on merit but, in some cases, I suspect the motivation is to project ‘the right image,’” comments Nathalie Visele, Director at Dubai-based Shamal Communications.
She also says that for any sector to thrive, the primary consideration when hiring should always be to appoint the best person for the job.
True progress, she argues, can only be achieved by prioritising talent and capability over demographic considerations.
Read the orginal article: https://siliconcanals.com/news/women-in-pr-industry/
