It is interesting how PR used to be dominated by men and then over the years women have taken over. As early as the 1900’s men were the ones doing PR for businesses and the government. The Institute of Public Relations (IPR) revealed that in 1987 men outnumbered women in PR 20:80. Then in 2004 IPR revealed women outnumbered men 60:40.In 2007 PRWeek magazine stated that 63% of PR practitioners are women. These statistics demonstrate that the number of women entering into PR is increasing every year. Just within 3 years the number has increased by 3%.
What is causing this gender shift? Why are more women attracted to PR while it has the opposite effect to males?
What is causing this gender shift? Why are more women attracted to PR while it has the opposite effect to males?
1 comment:
Well, I would have to say that the early dearth of women in PR was due to the fact that most women didn't work outside the home, and that trend continued in large part until the 1960s-1970s. The numbers of women in most disciplines started to increase after that time, although the percentages in certain fields remains small even today. I think you make a good point on your earlier post about women being naturally more drawn to communication fields, and I think that is probably because women tend to be more relationship-focused than men, even in the workplace. I saw a lot of studies done on that topic in my interpersonal communication and social psych classes as an undergrad. Might be worth looking into, if this topic interests you...
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