The Future of PR

The number of women entering into PR will continue to increase and shows no sign of slowing down. Organisations such as the CIPR’s Women in PR group created in 1962 and Washington Women in Public Relations (WWPR) created in 1980 seek to provide an outlet for women. During these times women were the minorities, so these organisations provided professional development and networking opportunities for them. Although these organisations still exist, there should be similar societies for men to attract more males into PR.

It is great that women have entered into PR and are flourishing. However, I feel that with every career there should be an equal balance between men and women. If PR is supposed to be about communicating to the public, there needs to be equal representation from both genders.

With PR expanding hopefully, there will be more males entering into this field. But what will it take to have them enter into this predominately female based field? Could male organisations that seek to recruit more males work? If not, what will the future of PR look like 10 years from now? Will men become obsolete in PR?

Organising parties and working with celebrities? Now that's a job I want!

My class had a discussion of how our friends and the public would describe the type of person that works in PR. One of the main conclusions was that people would describe PR practitioners to be females who like to party and socialize. This was because most people see PR as working with celebrities and organizing parties/events. Looking back at Moloney’s theory that PR is seen as girly because it involves organising parties, I realized that this conclusion could have been derived from mainstream media.

The famous television show Sex & the City, features a wild and social female character, Samantha Jones who works in PR. Ms. Jones is a successful PR executive who is always shown organising and throwing lavish parties that are attend by wealthy and successful people. Her job looks fun because she deals with sexy male clients and works sometimes with celebrities. This show demonstrates the glamorous job people believe PR practitioners do.

If I didnt know what PR involved and just saw this ideal image on TV, I would be attracted to PR. If all I had to do was organise parties and rub elbows with the rich and famous, that would be great! Could this ideal image of PR in society be attracting women?