Women are making up a larger segment of the communications and public relations industry than ever before, but progress remains slow on cracking the glass ceiling, according to veteran insiders. These
days, the most fruitful routes to the top involve joining a new economy start-up, or founding your own agency. The women PR NEWS spoke with say true equality is still down the road, but they're
optimistic.
Seven out of 10 communicators are female, according to a study conducted this year by IABC and PRSA. Elizabeth Allan, executive director of IABC, says that ratio has changed over the last decade, from
six women out of 10 communicators. Over that same time, communicators as a whole (both men and women) have moved higher on the organizational charts and their average salaries have gone up, she says.
But women in the workplace still perceive barriers. A study conducted by the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association last year found that 69% of women said they are not "tapped into" the information
communications networks, while just 31% of men said that women are not included. And 40% of the female respondents said women are given fewer challenging assignments, while only 26% of the males
agreed.
Life in Corporate America
"The Fortune 100 companies are still, on the whole, old boys' clubs, and they [executives] prefer dealing with men," says Betsy Nichol, president of Nichol & Co. and president of Women Executives
in Public Relations. "Women in corporations have a much harder time [getting ahead] than women in agencies."
Wilma Mathews, director of PR at Arizona State University, agrees that women are not making rapid progress in corporate roles - with a caveat. "I don't see [women advancing] as much in the corporate
field, but then, I think we're looking at the wrong corporations. We keep looking at the biggies," she says. "We're not taking a hard enough look at the startups, the dot-coms. The new economy seems to
[provide more opportunities]."
Nichol speculates the differences between older and newer companies come out of the models used to create them. "I think the business rules and the organization of businesses were set up by men based
on the military, sort of top down," she says. "Women are much more networking. They see themselves in the middle of a web, reaching out in all kinds of directions."
The latter model is well suited to an Internet-driven business world, says Helen Ostrowski, EVP of Porter Novelli, and recently appointed to its board of directors. "The new economy is freed from the
shackles of the past, where older-line companies are kind of constrained," she says. There also is an approaching "critical mass," in terms of the number of women who break through, Ostrowski believes.
"As you move into [senior] ranks, those become the places where you can sort of pull people along."
Brenda Siler, director of PR for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and former chairwoman of IABC, sees more women than men in communications roles at associations and not-for-profits,
though not necessarily at the very top. In the Washington, D.C., area, for instance, she says many of the top communications professionals are men who have moved from high-level government positions. "The
area where I see women faring well is in the HR consultancies," she says. "Around the country, around the world, I see women with the large HR [agencies] heading up their communications practices."
Entrepreneurship Beckons
While the face of the agency practitioner has traditionally been female, more women are taking the top spots - by creating their own firms.
Melissa Carlson started her eponymous firm in 1994 in Oklahoma, after working for Occidental/OXY USA Inc. "I was not one of those people who said, 'Gee, I want to have my own business one day...' I got
frustrated," Carlson recalls. Despite being promoted through the management ranks at the oil company, when Carlson returned after a maternity leave, she was moved out of management and into what she
perceived as a dead-end job.
Nichol started her own firm 19 years ago, after working in an almost all-female agency. She found the employees too competitive with each other, and thought she could start a more collegial agency,
where the employees would be mutually supportive. Today, she believes, women are better at working together and working with men. "Two things have happened - men have changed their attitudes and gotten
more comfortable working with women, and women have learned to work in a team environment," Nichol says.
Carlson believes the field of crisis communications creates opportunities for women. "My dad used to tell me there's always a job doing what people don't want to do," she laughs. Many corporate
managers don't enjoy the prospect of dealing with the media, especially in troubled circumstances, she says. Women willing to take on that responsibility are seen as team players.
So while the glass ceiling is present, it is receding. "The rate of progress is speeding up. If you start so far behind, [there is] a lot of catching up to do," Ostrowski says. "Now you're seeing women
move into senior positions they worked 20 to 25 years to get. We're almost ready to break through, but not quite yet."
(Allan, 415/544-4700; Nichol, 212/889-6401; Mathews, 480/727-6031; Ostrowski, 212/601-8218; Siler, 301/897-0104; Carlson, 918/583-5712)
Brenda Siler
Director of PR
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, on career path - rather than race
or gender - limitations: "I had 18 or 19 years of experience, primarily in nonprofits,
but no one saw that what I had been doing in nonprofits could translate into
corporate. That was my glass ceiling."
Angela Sinickas
President
Sinickas Communications, about becoming a consultant: "I wanted to be in a line
position. I didn't want to be staff overhead. You don't have to spend all your
time justifying the position."
Melissa Carlson
President
Carlson Communications, on the predominance of women in her agency: "I even
tried to hire male interns, to help out the hormone level in the office, but
I just think you don't see many men in entry-level positions."