Career experiences of women in British public relations (1970–1989)

Yaxley, Heather

doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2013.03.009

Cited by 14 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Although a 'new feminist visibility' is emerging in the UK PR industry, evidenced by the recent activities of networking organisations such as Women in PR (Harrington, 2018), together with gender pay policies developed by professional associations (CIPR, 2018b; PRCA, 2018), we must interrogate these apparently progressive moves. While it is plausible to suggest that PR is experiencing nascent feminism, missing from historical accounts in the UK (Yaxley, 2013;L'Etang, 2015), such an assessment may be optimistic in terms of feminist, transformative change proposed by Golombisky (2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further insights into the career experiences of a later generation emerge from Yaxley’s (2013) oral histories study. Her female subjects, who were employed as PR practitioners in the United Kingdom during the 1970s and 1980s, revealed high levels of personal agency and ‘feisty’ self-efficacy in overcoming career barriers such as misogynistic colleagues and gender inequality.…”

Section: Pr Practice’s Unease With Feminism: Historical Discoursesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, six out of the seven ‘successful’ women interviewed did not see themselves as change agents opening up opportunities for younger generations: indeed these participants were critical of subsequent ‘girly’ generations, who they perceived did not have to fight for their positions. The lack of a ‘feminist consciousness’ (Yaxley, 2013: 161) among those interviewed, alongside an apparent alignment with masculine professional identity (Yeomans, 2013), provides evidence, albeit limited, that have historically pursued an individualistic pathway, while supporting the patriarchical ordering of the profession. Thus, it may be argued that the historical gender hierarchy of PR observed in the demarcation of gender roles (managerial/technical skills), and specialisms (e.g.…”

Section: Pr Practice’s Unease With Feminism: Historical Discoursesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The central question which provides the starting point for this research is whether, in light of the ‘extraordinary visibility’ (Gill, 2016: 617) of feminism in the media and popular culture, a new feminist consciousness is emerging among a generation of senior women in the UK public relations (PR) industry? This question is relevant now because historically, the PR industry in the United Kingdom has been characterised by a denial of sex discrimination and gendered work and the absence of a feminist consciousness among female PR practitioners (L’Etang, 2015; Yaxley, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The paper begins with an overview of the limited literature on historical discourses of gender within the UK PR industry (L’Etang, 2015; Yaxley, 2013). While two papers provide limited historical evidence of attitudes towards gender within the UK PR industry, they contribute a suitable rationale and reference point for the work presented in this article.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is a ‘new feminist visibility’ emerging in the UK PR industry? Senior women’s discourse and performativity within the neoliberal PR firm

Yeomans

2019

Public Relations Inquiry

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Is a 'new feminist visibility' emerging in the UK PR industry? Senior women's discourse and performativity within the neoliberal PR firm Despite persistent gender inequalities, the Public Relations (PR) industry in the UK has historically reflected unease with feminism (Yaxley, 2013; L'Etang, 2015). However, indications of a 'new feminist visibility' raise significant questions. Do these feminist moves reflect a blossoming of feminist practice in the PR industry? Or rather, in an occupation that is strongly intertwined with neoliberalism and promotional culture (Miller and Dinan, 2000; Cronin, 2018), is the PR industry emblematic of a highly individualised 'neoliberal feminism' (Rottenberg, 2014) and a postfeminist sensibility in which 'multiple and contradictory ideas' co-exist? (Gill, 2016: 622). Adopting Edley's (2000) discourse analysis framework, data drawn from interviews with seven senior female practitioners, supported by observational data, was critically explored in relation to literature in gender sociology, cultural studies and feminist literature in PR. While the online presence of women's networks in PR provide evidence of a feminist visibility to address inequalities, the 'subject positions' and 'interpretative repertoires' in the data were characteristic of neoliberal feminist individualism that calls upon women to provide for their own needs and aspirations through 'self help' measures. Further, while sex discrimination in the PR industry featured prominently within the discursive repertoires of some participants, inequalities in everyday agency practice were either left unchallenged in response to client expectations or tackled through individual actions. Contradictory repertoires, including the repudiation of sexism, were indicative of entrepreneurial discourse (Lewis, 2006) and a postfeminist sensibility (Gill et al, 2017). Senior PR women providing client services appear to have limited scope beyond individualised, performative strategies to challenge the structures that perpetuate inequalities in PR and bring about transformative change (Golombisky, 2015). Although findings are limited to a small-scale study, this paper contributes a unique perspective of the intersections between neoliberalism, third wave feminism, postfeminism and performativity within the UK PR industry.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pr Practice’s Unease With Feminism: Historical Discoursesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pr Practice’s Unease With Feminism: Historical Discoursesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is a ‘new feminist visibility’ emerging in the UK PR industry? Senior women’s discourse and performativity within the neoliberal PR firm

Yeomans

2019

Public Relations Inquiry

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Not just about representative: When democracy needs females and their competency to run Indonesian government public relations to management level

Kriyantono

Ida

Tawakkal

et al. 2022

Heliyon

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The democratic era has promoted transparency, public participation, and open access on public information, therefore, public relations is considered an integral part of the democratic process. The study is not only about genders representation, but also the outcome of involving genders and their competence in managerial positions. This study aims to portray the outcome of employing male and female and their competency in managing government public relations in Indonesia. An online survey on 102 public relations practitioners from various government institutions. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and univariate formula. The research reveals that government public relations have applied two-way communication models and resulted in an excellent outcome on Indonesian democratization. The findings affirm that the emerging democracy has encouraged effective practices and challenge public information, the previous model that government institutions provided. Results show different outcomes on two-way communication when male or female manages the model. On the managerial level, the female practitioners have proper competence implement the model at a higher level than males. Since gender issue in government public relations practices has been little investigated, this study recommends the Indonesian governments to provide more opportunities for female practitioners as part of the top management in public relations divisions. The government needs to change its mind-set that gender issue takes into account not only representativeness but also their competence.

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Women, Feminization, and Professionalization

Fitch

2016

Professionalizing Public Relations

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Career experiences of women in British public relations (1970–1989)

Cited by 14 publications

References 22 publications

Is a ‘new feminist visibility’ emerging in the UK PR industry? Senior women’s discourse and performativity within the neoliberal PR firm

Is a ‘new feminist visibility’ emerging in the UK PR industry? Senior women’s discourse and performativity within the neoliberal PR firm

Not just about representative: When democracy needs females and their competency to run Indonesian government public relations to management level

Women, Feminization, and Professionalization

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