The petticoat profession – inspired by #ihprc chats
When a doctor was the heart of the community, one of few educated men, privileged with special knowledge and life-giving properties, he was respected. Now, anyone with access to the internet – or the stethoscope app on the iPhone – thinks they can diagnose illness.
When young educated men became articled clerks, they were respected as pillars of the community, one of few men who could read and write and eventually advocate. Their role as PA, secretary and research assistant was seen as vital for justice. Now, the legal profession is being torn apart from the inside and law firms are under threat from supermarkets and internet sites which can provide bulk legal services a lot cheaper.
When the vocal, opinionated man took his place on the board of directors organising what we now call PR and marketing activities, he was respected. Now, anyone with a Twitter account thinks they can do PR. And, the PR profession is predominately made up of female technicians and a few male strategists.
Whether or not we are embarrassed by Bernays’ Torches of Freedom campaign or Ivy Lee’s Colorado mining exploits, we still see the foundations of PR as coming from a male, white, American, educated, business/professional background. And, with that background, PR can still take a top seat at the table. However, more often than not, PR practitioners are female and from a media/creative/arts background – and often, taken far less seriously by the middle-aged white men on the board.
Obviously this is a huge generalisation – not all PR people are women, not all female PR people are excluded from the boardroom.
However, there is an interesting study to be completed as to the influence of women entering the professions (medicine and law) as well as PR and marketing. Something for another year I think!
Aimee – this is an interesting topic and one that has a good body of knowledge, much of which considers the ideas that rather than enhancing women’s careers, increased female domination at the top of a profession actually leads to a reduction in respect for the discipline. @mrsljprice did an excellent final year dissertation on Feminisation of PR in the Motor Industry at Bournemouth University which I supervised. Definitely the “petticoat profession” is an area worthy of greater study – although I feel there are other aspects of diversity too that need greater consideration such as class, ethnicity, disability etc. Good work being done on this by Dr Lee Edwards.
Heather – definitely agree that there is plenty to explore round diversity and that Dr Lee Edwards is doing some good work in this field. It is not just about women in professions – PR in practice as opposed to PR in universities is incredibly under-represented in terms of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.