Men are from Mars and Women are from Public Relations

In the United States it is estimated that 65% of practitioners are women, while Public Relations Society of America point to 90% female membership. UK’s Chartered Institute of Public Relations figures estimates 62% of practitioners are female. Meanwhile in France it is estimated that 80% of all PR practitioners are women. An immediate thought which comes to the mind is why public relations as a profession is so popular amongst women?

Why are there more women in PR?

According to Women in PR there are seven main reasons why there are so many women in the industry:
1.They are better, or natural, communicators (33%)
2.They multitask and organise better than men (23%)
3.PR is a soft career suited to women – as are teaching, human resources etc. (18%)
4.The have better and more sensitive “people skills” (18%)
5.They are better able to pay attention to detail and to look at things from different perspectives (15%)
6.They are better suited to a variety of practical administrative tasks (10%)
7.Women have greater imagination, intuition, and are sensitive to nuances (8%)

Although these could be the reasons why there are so many women in PR but I think the ability to communicate, multitask, organise, sensitivity, attention to detail and imagination etc. are some generic qualities which are required in other professions as well. For example, say medicine, law, education etc. then what makes public relations such a special choice for women?

The Popular culture

Trevor Morris and Simon Goldsworthy point out ‘popular culture’ as a factor for the growing influx of women in the industry. The portrayal of public relations on the big and small screen as a sexy, fast moving, well-paid and exciting job that is welcoming to women could be one of the reason why women are attracted towards this profession. This could possibly be true because from my own personal experience, I opted for Public Relations because I found it interesting. I had an impression in my mind that as a public relations professional, I would get an opportunity to influence senior management decisions and maintain good relationships with people. To be honest, that is all I knew about PR before I started working in a consultancy. In fact, I think most students (female) like me do not have a clear understanding of public relations until they join the industry. These stereotype perceptions of public relations being glamorous, well-paid, exciting and powerful etc. could be a strong force to influence women to join this industry.

Are women running Public Relations?

There could be numerous reasons for women to join the PR industry but if you scratch the surface, beneath lies the truth, men still seem to hold more senior positions and in general, earn more than women in the industry. According to Fawcett Society 2009, around 1 in 20 company directors are women and women earn 17-35% less than men. Men with five or more years experience in PR still, on average, earn more than their female counterparts ($124,000 median salary for men versus $85,000 for women according to a 2007 survey).

Why women don’t reach the top?

So, what could be the possible reasons behind it? We had an interesting debate in the class about the issue and my classmates raised some really interesting points. People speaking for the motion (women will always work in PR but will never run it) said that PR is a fast and dynamic profession which requires 100 percent commitment and flexibility, since women need to maintain a balance between their personal and professional lives; they often find it difficult to continue working in the profession. Women still tend to be the key child carers and take career breaks or even give up their career as they start to have children. As a result, they either leave the profession or are not able to make constant progress.

I think all the above mentioned reasons are pretty realistic and practical especially for working mothers. They always find themselves in a situation where they need to prioritise since working in a consultancy means long hours, late nights, more pressure and lot of hard work. At the same time, they have responsibilities towards their children which if remain unfulfilled leads to frustration and disappointment. Some of the main reasons given for the high churn rate in PR, particularly, at the middle level, are to do with long hours, relatively low pay, and lack of job satisfaction.

Shubra Sinha, Account Manager, Accord Public Relations says, “I feel the main reason which stops women from sticking to the high management levels (this is not restricted to PR only) is mainly due to the pressures and demands that they get along. Women undoubtedly have two tasks in hand - family and profession – and obviously demands from both the ends grow as the responsibilities increase. There are women who manage to compromise on some aspects and reach higher levels in the corporate world; however this percentage would be low. Most would still prefer to maintain a balance and sacrifice on the professional front, to be able to give enough time to family.”

Why men earn more?

Another interesting reason which is highlighted in the academics in that men are far better represented in the higher earnings sectors, such as lobbying and financial PR. Most women tend to work either in consumer or lifestyle PR which are traditionally less remunerative. According to a survey of female PRs by Women in PR, 70% of respondents worked in consumer and lifestyle PR.

Impact on Public Relations

‘Because PR is mostly female, the negative impacts associated with being female also impacts negatively on PR.’ Larrisa Grunig (2001). It can be debated if the feminization of PR has a positive or negative impact on the industry. Morris and Goldsworthy are of the opinion that the current evidence suggest that it doesn’t have an impact at all. The industry by almost any measure continues to grow and outperform the wider economy. PR courses in universities and colleges are often oversubscribed and show no signs of decreasing in number. I personally think, gender does not play a role in creating an impact on the PR industry, reason being, there are other professions like teaching, human resources, nursing etc. which are primarily women dominated and this fact doesn’t seem to play any role in building the reputation of that profession. What does impact is the nature and execution of profession and not which gender is dominating it. For example, politics is mainly dominated by men and generally politicians are not perceived as trust worthy, so can we say if politics would have been run or dominated by women, the profession would have enjoyed much more credibility and trust?

References: PR A Persuasive Industry? Trevor Morris and Simon Goldsworthy, 2008, Chapter: Girls, gurus, gays and diversity

Global PR: does the PR paradigm work across cultures?

We had an interesting debate in the class on the issue, “Good PR is always context and culture specific. The idea of a global PR is anathema”. Both the teams had some strong points to stand for the motion and against the motion. The team for the motion basically emphasised the point that in order to develop effective communications plan, public relations practitioners need to identify and understand the local context and culture. The team against the motion highlighted that with so many consultancies becoming international, global public relations is the future. It is not easy to give one answer to the question, as our course leader, Pam Williams, said, the answer probably lies somewhere in between. The debate, however, provided a lot of food for thought for everybody in the class. So, I decided to do some research on the issue and this blog highlight my learning and findings.

Difference between global and international public relations

Are terms IPR and global PR synonymous or mean different things? In academic literature, both these terms have been used interchangeably but Tench and Yeomans refers global PR to the internalisation of the profession, which is being practised in more and more countries throughout the globe, while IPR refers to the planning and implementation of programmes and campaigns carried out abroad, involving two or more countries. In my opinion, this distinction by Szondi (2006) is valid because if we go by the dictionary meaning of international, it means between or among nations, whereas the term, global means, around the globe or involving the entire earth. So, global in terms of its literary meaning sounds more holistic and comprehensive. If this is the basic distinction then I think one can argue if international public relations is a part of global public relations?

Who drives global public relations?

Global public relations is driven by many factors like political, social, economic and technological etc. As Ralph Tench and Liz Yeomans mention in their book Exploring Public Relations, many non-governmental organisations, such as, Greenpeace, Red Cross, Save the Children or Amnesty International, cannot be associated with a particular country and they communicate with a variety of peoples and countries all over the globe. Not only multinational organisations but also countries and their governments frequently engage in international public relations to create a positive reputation of the particular country abroad or a receptive environment for achieving foreign or economic policy goals. I think technology has played a pivotal role in driving global public relations. The phrase, ‘the world is a global village’ by Marshall McLuhan very much holds existence in today’s world. The development of tools like internet and social media has provided public relations practitioners with the medium to reach audience across geographical borders.

Does international public relations exist at all?

The PR industry seems to be divided on the issue. Some practitioners think that there is no such thing as international public relations while others think that international public relations is the most rapidly growing segment of the profession. I personally think international public relations does exist and is growing at a significant rate. Alison Theaker in the Public Relations Handbook mentions that Wakefield (2001) reports that there are now 40,000 multinational entities, financial markets are converging and new technologies are facilitating communication. Most of the leading public relations consultancies like Weber Shandwick, Fleishman-Hillard, Edelman, Porter Novelli, and Lewis PR etc. are global public relations firms and practice international public relations. These international PR agencies have their networks in many different countries. They have local offices and hire local PR practitioners which give them more credibility. Thus, these multinational organisations adapt to the culture of the host country. According to Tench and Yeomans, public relations industry has been slow to adapt itself with the theories and models of their practices in the international context.

Are PR theories and concepts universally applicable?

Most of the theories and concepts in PR developed in USA and the UK, therefore, practitioners and scholars have been interested to find out if these theories and concepts are universally applicable. For example, Grunig’s two-way symmetrical model, one can argue if that is applicable universally. I think in a democratic country like India, it might be applicable but its application might be restricted in communist countries like China.

Culture and global PR

As societies become increasingly diverse, public relations practitioners face a greater challenge to speak to the needs of each market. I think in order to reach their target audience effectively, global public relations practitioners need to have a good understanding of local cultures. The Public Relations handbook mentions that Homogenous cultures are rare. Jandt (2004) states that 95 percent of the world’s countries are ethnically heterogeneous. This has a direct impact on public relations practitioners since the culture background of targeted publics can change which media channels practitioners should use.

What is culture?

Sriramesh and Vercic (2003:8) quote Tylor (1871), who defined culture as ‘that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, custom, any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society’. On the other hand, Hofstede defined culture as ‘collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another.’

Can PR work across cultures?

I think PR can definitely work across cultures if consultancies ‘Think Global and Act Local’. In fact, in today’s information age, PR practitioners have no choice but to adapt themselves according to globalisation of PR. They need to be open and flexible in their approach in order to develop effective international PR strategies. There have been numerous examples where global public relations campaigns have been successful. For example, the best job in the world campaign. Tourism Queensland claims that the campaign generated more than $80m (£49m) of equivalent media advertising space (source: The Guardian). On the other hand there are some examples which didn’t work internationally like British Airways when it went global in 1996. In June 1997 the airline unveiled a new £60m corporate identity and £1m global advertising campaign with the slogan: ‘The world is closer than you think’. The new identity was based on 50 world images commissioned from ethnic artists around the world. BA’s plan to fly world images instead of the Union flag backfired. Eventually, the airline had to retreat and repaint its planes in 2001, bringing back the Union flag. Thus, public relations can work across cultures but PR practitioners need to keep in mind various factors before implementing international communication plans.

Image credit: http://www.oecd.org/vgn/images/portal/cit_731/0/54/39748906GlobalForum_50_150dpi.jpg

References: Ralph Tench and Liz Yeomans, Exploring Public Relations, Chapter: International context of public relations
Alison Theaker, The Public Relations Handbook, Chapter: Coping with culture