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Smith, G. (2005). Commentary. A few good men: Gender balance in the Western Australian public relationsindustry. PRism 3. Available at: http://praxis.massey.ac.nz

Commentary: A few good menGender balance in the Western Australian public relations industry

Greg SmithCentral Queensland University

In a PhD being undertaken through CentralQueensland University, Perth public relationsprofessional Greg Smith will examine whycommunication management and publicrelations roles are increasingly attractingdisproportionate numbers of women (orconversely, why there are so few men). In the

work-in-progress commentary piece below,Greg outlines some preliminary researchdirections. His thesis will examine why industryfeminisation has occurred, and assess whether afemale-dominated industry will alter the waypublic relations is perceived, practiced, andtaught. Greg is interested in feedback on hisresearch directions, particularly frompractitioners, and in hearing from otherresearchers working in similar areas.

This preliminary commentary article does notnecessarily target academia as its primaryreadership. As Eaton (2001) points out, muchcommunication scholarship has a limitedreadership of other scholars and small numbersof students. Instead, this article is primarilyaimed at practitioners in the field whoseresponses I hope to gather to build a picture ofcurrent gender issues in the industry. I shouldalso state this article is not a feminist analysis,

although it does consider the issue of a largelymale-managed industry with an ever-growingfemale workforce an interesting combination.

The issue of women in public relations, orthe feminisation of public relations was firstraised in 1989 when, according to Grunig, Toth,and Hon (2001), the Public Relations Journalpublished one of the first articles to note thegrowing prevalence of female practitioners.

They are probably referring to KarleneLukovitzs (1989) article Women practitioners,

how far, how fast? which noted that womenhad grown from only 27% of the United States

industry in 1970, to 56.6% in 1987. Lukovitzalso noted a salaries gap between men andwomen as a result of past discrimination andthe recent heavy influx of young women into thelower-salaried entry-levels of the professionand raised concerns that this could flow on to adecrease in status and salaries for the profession

as a whole (Lukovitz, 1989, p. 14). It isinteresting to note that, in the same volume ofPublic Relations Journal, Philip Lesly alsopublished an article suggesting public relationswas losing stature and respect (1989, p. 40),although he attributed the status loss toincreasingly technical practice, rather than togender reasons.

Lukovitz quoted the then president of thePublic Relations Society of America (PRSA),

John Paluszek, as saying he was not aware ofany problems relating to women in publicrelations, and there was no need for industry-wide examination of womens issues. However,he later acted on the many replies his commentsdrew, and established a Task Force on Womenin PR, which later became the Committee onWork, Life and Gender Issues.

In 2001, Sha defined public relations asfeminised, meaning practitioners would moreoften be female than male. Grunig, Toth, and

Hon (2001) wrote one of the main texts onfemales in public relations. Women in publicrelations: How gender influences practice, dealswith issues such as status, salary, equity, gender,gender bias, and sexual discrimination.Primarily, it aims to make an issue out of sexdiscrimination in our field (p. 30). The focus isappropriate for a text written by three womenfor women, and addresses important issues ofimbalance. My thesis research is concernedwith uncovering the underlying factors as to

why there are increasingly so many women(and, concomitantly, why so few men) in public

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relations. The issues Grunig et al. raise certainlyhave a role to play in some areas of my study,but the book mainly deals with women'sexisting roles and challenges in public relations,particularly at a time when awareness had not

yet been raised to gender imbalance andtherefore very little was yet being done toaddress imbalances and issues that women facedwithin the industry. As an additionalperspective, one could also argue that, with thepredominance of women now entering publicrelations, it is time for discussion and study ofmale issues, and/or the ways in which genderimbalance may affect both genders. This articleis intended as a preliminary starting point forsuch a discussion in the Australian context.

The PRSAs 2000 world conference, whichdrew more than 3500 public relationsprofessionals, students, vendors, and trade

journalists, addressed the issue. Industryheavyweights Harold Burson and Dan Edelmanexpressed concern during the conference thatthe vast majority of people entering the publicrelations field were women. At the time, JackO'Dwyer's industry Newsletter had noted thatwomen comprised 70% of Burson-Marsteller'sstaff. Edelman stumbled over a question aboutthe predominance of women entering publicrelations before suggesting the industry neededbalance (cited in Miller, 2002).

Although approaches differ, scholars doagree that women outnumber men in the publicrelations industry. De Rosa and Wilcox (1989)questioned the influx of women into publicrelations. In the only survey of (US) universitystudents attitudes to public relations, theyattempted to discover why women were entering

the field in increasing numbers. The researchprovided an important starting point, but wasonly quantitative and did not considerprofessionals, who as key informants mayprovide rich data from their years of industryobservation. Professor Wilcox (head of publicrelations at San Jose University), no longer hasthe data, but in e-mail correspondence of 19April 2005, he provided this summary:

DeAnna DeRosa and I surveyed publicrelations majors at about six or seven

universities with a basic questionnaire.Nothing very sophisticated just simple

percentages, etc. Since that time, ofcourse, there have been many articlesabout gender differences in publicrelations but most of it has been aboutdifferences in the workplace (salary,

title, years of experience, etc). I can'trecall, however, any recent replication ofa study that explores the perceptions ofcurrent public relations majors (male andfemale) about gender differences in thepublic relations field. In many of ourclassrooms now, its almost like teachingin a women's college. About 80 percentof our public relations majors are women(personal communication, April 19,2005).

Similarly, Toth et al. (2001) reported, fromtheir year 2000 gender study (the most recent)of the United States industry, that theprofessions current demographic in thatcountry was 70% women and 30% men. Theysuggested that reflected a steady increase ofwomen entering public relations since the early1980s. Their previous study, in 1991, showed61% women and 38% men. These figuresappear strikingly similar to the proportion ofmale/female participation in the Australianpublic relations industry and at universities, asdiscussed below. Grunig (2001) also recogniseda paradigm shift when she noted that publicrelations switched from a male to femalemajority in 1989.

This project will attempt to determinereasons for the growing predominance ofwomen in public relations in Australia and,conversely, the diminishing numbers of men, asreflected in university numbers around Australia

and overseas, and in the workplace (bothgovernment and private enterprise). It will dothis via comprehensive on-line and papersurveys, focus groups, and interviews. Afteronly three months, I would not like to pre-emptwhat the research might find. However,considering the literature, and followingpreliminary discussions with someprofessionals, there are indicators that thefollowing could be possible researchhypotheses:

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1. Is there a perception that a so-calledwomens persona is better suited topublic relations than mens?;

2. Have historical changes to society (fromindustrial to information-based) led

women into communication careers?;3. Is public relations seen as an easy entry

into a quasi-management career?;4. Do some traditional male-dominated

organisations like to have a womanaround at middle-management (non-threatening) level and see the publicrelations as a way to achieve this?.

In summary, the studys objectives at thisstage are:

To determine the reasons for the growth inwomen, and decline of men, within publicrelations.

To consider the development of publicrelations and how it has impacted on theprofessions gender composition.

To speculate on future trends with regard

to gender and what they may mean for theindustry.

Rationale

The project has its origins in my 22-yearprofessional career in the media and in publicrelations. The high number of womenundertaking communication courses at EdithCowan University in Western Australia also

sparked my initial interest, as did growingprofessional anecdotal evidence of this trend.However, to date I can find no comprehensiveacademic study explaining the growing drift ofwomen and decline of men in the publicrelations profession. Some related research hasbeen done by American academics most notablyBrenda Wrigley, Elizabeth Toth, Linda Aldoory,Larissa Grunig, Carolyn Cline and Linda Hon.However, only eight major published texts onthe subject exist. These mostly concentrate on

inequalities regarding salary and responsibilityin decision-making. This also was the major

content of the 1984 Velvet Ghetto report, whichcan no longer be obtained in full, only insummary form (Cline, Smith, Johnson, Toth, &

Turk, 1986). Journal articles also appear to berelatively rare. Because of this, it appears there

is a need for current, original research. It isinteresting to note most of the initial researchhas been done by women. In my opinion thisreflects the nature of the industry at the time (the1980s), when women were striving for greaterprofessional recognition in the industry. Byarguing that a male perspective may also offerinsights I am not suggesting that the need forrecognition of womens issues has ended, onlythat a range of viewpoints assists with gainingthe fullest picture. I wholeheartedly agree with

Larissa Grunig, who in a 1998 interview withSalon magazine suggested that public relationswas not female-dominated, but female-intensive(Brown, 1998). By that I understand her to meanthat, while numerically females dominate theindustry, they do not dominate it in the sensethey control it.

The initial research (gathering of literature)for this project proved challenging because,although statistical evidence is available to showthat women outnumber men within publicrelations, both academically (studentenrolments) and professionally, most of thematerial relating directly to public relationsdemographics is US-centric. In fact, the PublicRelations Institute of Australia (PRIA) does notkeep membership gender statistics. Analyticalmaterial is also scarce, largely US-based, andwithin a particular paradigm. Public relationsscholars have mostly approached the subjectfrom feminist perspectives (i.e. pay disparities,

gender inequality, discrimination, andmanagement issues), and even these discussionsare infrequent.

Other scholars who have delved into the fieldhave made similar comments. Gower (2001)noted that historical studies of women in publicrelations and analyses of female contributions tothe field were rare, while Rea (2002) suggestedthere had been scant sustained or formal interestin gender equity matters from eitherprofessional public relations organisations or

industry or academic conferences. Rea (2002)argued that the lack of discussion was not

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because gender discrimination did not exist, butbecause it was not sufficiently recognised andaddressed.

Because this study aims to understand whywomen are entering public relations in ever-

increasing numbers, reliance on this scant bodyof public relations literature and statistics istherefore insufficient. Other works relevant tothe study may include reference to the ways inwhich society has changed and exploringwhether there are, potentially, different ways inwhich women and men approach thetraditional public relations functions ofcreativity, written English, and verbalpresentation. For that reason, some sociologicaland psychological literature will prove valuable.

In the wider study, brief comparison will also bemade with the highly male-dominatedinformation technology sector in WesternAustralia.

Work to date

Gowers (2001) examination of the PublicRelations J ournal for the presence of womenfrom 1945 through 1972 suggests that earlysigns of interest regarding womens presenceand impact in public relations began in the late1970s. Women had always been working in theprofession, but were not always acknowledged.Wilcox, Ault, and Agee (1998) point out thatEdward L. Bernays, who is widely heldresponsible for defining the modern function ofpublic relations as an advisor to management,had a female business partner. Many historiansfailed to credit Bernays' wife, Doris E.Fleischman, for her role in their shared

accomplishments in public relations. Sheinterviewed clients and wrote news releases,edited the company's newsletter, and wrote andedited books and magazine articles, amongother duties.

The growing number of women in publicrelations was first noted in the mid-1980s andresulted in the benchmark report, The VelvetGhetto. This report, commissioned by theInternational Association of BusinessCommunicators, concentrated on gender issues,

and it touched on the issue of women over-populating the profession. Two years later, the

reports authors said that women working inbusiness communication shows an increase thatis wildly out of proportion 44.56% of theUnited States workforce is female, but theproportion in business communication is over

70.56% (Cline et al., 1986, p. 1).There was also some early statistical

evidence presented which showed how womenonce were by far the minority; the earliest ofthese being membership of the PRSA from 1949to 1952. Of the new members admitted in thattime, only 3.8% were women (cited in Cline etal., 1986). Gowers (2001) study of PublicRelations J ournal showed that from 1958 to1961, public relations was still a male-orientatedprofession. Gower suggests the low numbers of

women represented may have reflected thestrong patriarchal mythology in 1950s massmedia of married woman happily at home withchildren essentialising the ideal feminine.

Women continued to enter public relations,accounting for 25% of its practitioners by 1960.

The United States Census showed an increase inwomen in public relations and publicity writingof 263.6% from 1950 to 1960. Gower reportsthat, when public relations student societiesstarted on college campuses in 1968, womenwere just 34% of membership (2001). By themid-1980s, however, Cline et al. (1986), couldcomment that, A woman's place is no longer inthe home. It seems to be in the communicationdepartment, and that trend may not be goodnews for male and female communicators alike(p. 1).In Australia, women now frequently outnumbermen in the workforce as a whole (seeFigure 1).Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics

show womens employment participation rateswere higher than mens for most of the 1990s.The trend for public relations in Australia isharder to determine, both because of lack ofsurvey data, and because different surveysdefine public relations differently. AustralianBureau of Statistics figures from the 1996 and2001 Census data shows employment of PROfficers to be 68% female, both nationally andin Perth. My census suggests that womencurrently represent 75.4% of public relations

professionals in Perth (seeFigure 2).

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now has as a management function andbecome a second-class occupation. Inthe process, gains made over 50 years tobuild and sustain the value of publicrelations will disappear (Bates, 1983,

cited in Grunig et al., 2001).

Grunig et al. (2001) quote from a 1993 PRSAmonograph,Ten challenges to public relationsduring the next decade, in which Challenge Sixaddressed the problem of the shrinking numberof males in the profession. The challengesuggested much more needed to be done toencourage more men into the field, particularlygiven that, although their numbers weredecreasing overall, men held most senior

positions. The challenge suggested this waspartly because women had entered the fieldmore recently, but also suggested publicrelations growth as a profession would bestymied if it did not reflect population diversityat all levels of hierarchy. Specifically, thechallenge recommended steps be taken toidentify the factors responsible for decliningnumbers of males entering the field.

Conversely, many commentators seewomens prevalence as potentially enriching.Sha (2001) argued that feminisation wouldmake public relations more ethical, both inappearance and practice. Others, like LarissaGrunig (2001), Dozier (1988), and Rakow(1989) have suggested the prevalence of womenwould introduce characteristics such ascollaboration, sensitivity towards audiences, andbetter two-way communication. Several theoriessuggesting reasons why women enter publicrelations have been put forward. These include

the desire to write and attraction to the creativeaspects of public relations (Aldoory, 2001).Aldoory argued that only four specialist industryareas (of 11 analysed) were significantly moremale than female-oriented, and those specialtiesentailed areas of expertise that were traditionallymale-dominated: technology, finance, sports,and industry. These findings were supported bycomments found in previous interviews withpublic relations practitioners regarding gendersegregation in the field (Aldoory, 2001).

Grunig et al. (2001) argue that publicrelations is an industry founded on feminist

values, such as honesty, justice, and sensitivity,which enhance the symmetrical communicationpatterns of public relations. Furthermore, thetwo-way symmetrical model of public relationsrequires resolving conflict and building

relationships, which they indicate areintrinsically feminine values. (Although it isworth noting that other strands of feministthought would critique this essentialising ofgender characteristics as inherent.) In 1995,Hon suggested that feminist theorising aboutpublic relations saw the profession as inherentlyfeminine in nature because of its purposes,practices, and attributes.

The issue is also discussed by industry as aconcern. Richard Brandt, editor-in-chief of

Upside, expressed his uneasiness at thepossibility that public relations was lessrespected than other similar professions such as

journalism, and therefore easier for women toenter and get ahead (cited in Brown, 1998).Perhaps wanting to protect himself from theavalanche that would follow that statement,Brandt qualified it with the observation that hehad seen the professions status increase, withgreater influence and recognition in the last twodecades of the twentieth century. He noted thatthese decades were also the time when manywomen entered the profession and its genderbalance tilted.

What this means for the Australian industryis as yet unclear. Socio-cultural analysis showsAustralia to be a particularly masculinisedpatriarchal culture. Stereotypes have been, andcontinue to be, passed through the generations.Widespread change became apparent in the1970s, with the advent of feminism. This led to

the entry of more women into the workforce, aphenomenon which is now firmly entrenched.We are now in what is often regarded as theInformation Age (Chater & Gaster, 1995).Australia has passed from being an industrialsociety to a technology society characterised byinformation exchange. Previously, malesdominated the workforce because, according toChater and Gaster (1995), their contributionswere perceived as more valuable than femalescontributions.

However, as Chater and Gaster (1995) argue,the changes brought about by the information

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age can be seen as favourable to women. Theyargue that information age workplace needs aredramatically different from industrial erastructures, bureaucracies, and rules. The waybusiness is done today is markedly different to

previous eras. The most notable impact ofchange is the increased emphasis on ethicalpractice. This includes attention to theenvironment and the proper treatment of staff.

The emphasis on these values is seen by someas more compatible with the way women work,potentially presenting an opportunity for womento take the lead in these areas. While theindustrial society was created by men for men,the information society needs people, both maleand female, who are well educated and

technically trained. Chater and Gaster (1995)believe this has created opportunities for womenat all levels of business.

Added to this is the way business mustnow respond rapidly to changingeconomic conditions. The traditionalhierarchical structures, with theirinflexible rules and procedures, are notnecessarily suited to the new era inwhich flexibility and creativity arevalued. Many of the attributes usuallyconsidered necessary to public relationsprofessionals are outlined by Chater andGaster, who state We are moving fromindustrialisation, where the patriarchalmodel worked brilliantly, to an erawhere our survival and progress willdepend on not our ability to set rules,control production lines, establishbureaucracies, assert status and focus onthe bottom line, but on our ability to

communicate, negotiate work withemotions, create solutions to ever-changing problems and opportunities,respond to change, think globally andstrategically and work with and valuepeople . . . The playing field is movingin the direction of feminine values, sowhat the game now needs are the skillsthat women can bring to it (1995, p. 10).

In closing, Id like you to ponder Rush and

Grubb-Swetnams (1996) call to communicationstudents (and this would also apply to

professionals) to become aware of the absencesin their lives and profession. They suggestedone of the most important questions we can askourselves is: What is missing here? Why is thispicture incomplete or distorted?

References

Aldoory, L. (2001). The standard white woman inpublic relations. In E. Toth & E. Aldoory (Eds.),The gender challenge to media: Diverse voicesfrom the field. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (1995).Census data available at:

http://www.abs.gov.au/Brown, J. (1998, December 3). Spin sisters: Why is

public relations the only high-tech field thatwomen run? Salon, 12.

Chater, K., & Gaster, R. (1995).The equality myth.Sydney: Allen and Unwin.

Cline, C., Smith, H., Johnson, N., Toth, E., & Turk,J.V.S. (1986). The velvet ghetto: Summaryreport. Retrieved November 25, 2004 fromhttp://www.iabc.com/fdtnweb/pdf/VelvetGhetto.pdf

DeRosa, D., & Wilcox, D. (1989). Gaps arenarrowing between male and female students.Public Relations Review, 15(1), 80-89.

Dozier, D. (1988). Breaking public relations' glassceiling. Public Relations Review, 14(3), 6-14.

Eaton, B. C. (2001). I'm a femininst, but: Aresonse to sexism, racism and class elitism inmass communication. In E. Toth & E. Aldoory(Eds),The gender challenge to media: Diversevoices from the field. Cresskill, N.J.: Hampton.

Gower, K. K. (2001, Spring). Rediscoveringwomen in public relations: Public relationswomen in the Public Relations Journal from1945 through 1972.J ournalism History, 27, 14 -21.

Grunig, L. (2001). Toward the truly inclusivepublic relations classroom: Determiningstudents' expectations. Retrieved on December6, 2004 fromhttp://www.crge.umd.edu/resources/Grunig_paper.pdf.

http://www.abs.gov.au/http://www.iabc.com/fdtnweb/pdf/VelvetGhettohttp://www.crge.umd.edu/resources/Grunig_paphttp://www.crge.umd.edu/resources/Grunig_paphttp://www.iabc.com/fdtnweb/pdf/VelvetGhettohttp://www.abs.gov.au/

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Grunig, L., Toth, E., & Hon, L. (2001). Women inpublic relations: How gender influencespractice.New York: Guildford Press.

Hon, L. (1995). Toward a feminist theory of publicrelations.J ournal of Public Relations Research

7 (1), 27-88.Lesly, P. (1989). The anomaly of our future. Public

Relations Journal 45 (1), 40-41.Lukovitz, K. (1989). Women practitioners, how

far, how fast?: Progress of women in the publicrelations profession. Public Relations Journal45 (5), 14-21.

Miller, L. (2002). Tough issues, tough world. PRWatch, 8(1). Retrieved October 20, 2003 fromhttp://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2001Q1/prsa.html

Rakow, L. F. (1989). Feminist studies: The nextstage. Critical Studies in Mass Communication6(2), 11-26.

Rea, J . (2002). The feminisation of publicrelations: Whats in it for the girls?Unpublished masters thesis, University ofVictoria, Melbourne.

Rush, R., & Grubb-Swetnam, A. (1996). Feministapproaches. In M. Stacks & D. Stacks (Eds.), Anintegrated approach to communication theoryand research. Mahwah, N.J .: LawrenceErlbaum Associates.

Sha, B L. (2001). The feminisation of publicrelations: Contributing to a more ethicalpractice. In E. Toth & E. Aldoory (Eds.),Thegender challenge to media: Diverse voices fromthe field. Cresskill, N. J .: Hampton.

Toth, E. & Aldory, E. (2001). The genderchallange to media: Diverse voices from thefield. In E. Toth & E. Aldory (Eds.), The genderchallange to media: Diverse voices from the

field. Cresskill, N. J .: Hampton.Wilcox, D., Ault, P. & Agee, W. (1998). Publicrelations: Strategies and tactics (5th ed.). New

York: Longman.

Address for correspondence:

Greg SmithCentral Queensland Universitygsmith@westnet.com.au

http://members.westnet.com.au/gsmith/study

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