A Chick Thing?
Or do we need more men in PR?
Why is public relations/communications management becoming increasingly female dominated… and does it matter?
It’s broadly true that women, particularly those in pr, are better communicators, relationship builders and multi-taskers, And, whether by nature, inherent in our genetic makeup, or nurture, from countless generations of doing the job our strength is in ‘emotional labour’: listening counselling, serving and cleaning up messes – both literally and figuratively
Combine this skill predisposition with a profession that demands a combination of business and creativity, a consultancy and project driven approach that lends itself to part-time work, home based one-person operations and time off for family commitments, and it makes pr an eminently suitable job for a woman.
Recent research in New Zealand shows the same trends as elsewhere in the world. The split between male and female PR practitioners is about 30/70. But while that’s not an issue, figures show that a large proportion of the 30% are men in the 50yearsplus category while in the under30s, the split is closer to 10/90. Which suggests that in not too many years there will be proportionally as few men in PR as there used to be women at the top table. And therein lies the rub.
If you believe that PR counsel (and you can call it public affairs, communications or whatever you like) brings a valid, useful and ethical perspective to the board table, then it’s important than the voice providing that counsel is heard. But like it or not (and I’m assuming that nobody reading this publication does) careers with a preponderance of women lose status and often pay. It’s happened in administration, nursing, teaching, social work and even some areas of law and medicine (GPs). That’s what we don’t want to see happening in PR.
Times have obviously changed because Harold Burson, Founder and Chairman of international pr consultancy Burson-Marsteller and PR Week’s ‘Most Influential PR Individual of the 20th Century’ (no, there were no women in the Top 10) says that clients prefer input from a group of people balanced by gender. Interestingly there’s no record of objections when the imbalance meant it was just men offering the advice.
Careers in PR offer a lot of scope – including but not limited to corporate counsel, marketing communications, media relations, internal communications, and publicity. Right now, there are probably more (older) men at the ‘top end’ of PR – public affairs, with a disproportionate number of women operating in marcoms/publicity roles
Perhaps best known (fictional) PR characters of recent years, Patsy of Absolutely Fabulous and Samantha from Sex in the City are in those fields, reinforcing for some the more seemingly frivolous (feminine?) side of the profession. But just because Great Gatsby’s an easy read doesn’t mean it’s not outstanding literature, and the impact on the bottom line of an organisation directly attributable to a high profile ‘glitzy’ media launch, or familiarity (with a product) creating favourability when it comes to purchase decisions, shouldn’t be, and isn’t by most 20th Century CEOs, undervalued.
And in New Zealand plenty of top in-house and consultancy roles are held by women, with no indication that these senior people are paid less heed (or less money) than male counterparts.
The truth is that it’s not that women are dominating the profession, but that as communicators – conduits to and from the wide range of stakeholders that all organisations want robust and meaningful dialogue with - we do need to reflect the makeup of the communities we operate within.
That means a balance of men and women, pakeha, maori, pacific island, asian and other representatives of our community. And that’s what the industry, our employing organisations and academic institutions need to address.
Lisa Finucane, FPRINZ
President, Public Relations Institute of New Zealand