Trevor Cook: Male PR operatives

14 March 2005

Male PR operatives - a dying breed?

Male PR practitioners could be a dying breed, if an Australian survey is any indication. Perth-based PR professional and academic, Greg Smith, found that on average, the PR industry is 74 per cent female.

14 Mar 2005 12:47:04 | Public Relations

4 Comments

Wonder what the stats are worldwide.

Posted by: Giovanni Rodriguez | 14 March 2005 at 02:04 PM

I'm based in Ireland and finished up a postgrad in PR last year. Of a class of 35, there were only three other guys in my class. I think it's a 5:1 ratio in the firm I work for.

Posted by: Piaras Kelly | 16 March 2005 at 06:08 AM

I am teaching strategic communications and public relations at the Göteborg University in Sweden. This year we hade one guy and 23 women (nice for the guy of course). Another class I recently started has three guys and 15 women.

It has been a woman bias very long but now it is extreme. When I finished my own studies I would guess a 60/40 relation.

Why? I really don't have a clue. Relationships are for women? Perhaps. I would guess the HR departments would look pretty much the same way.

"The profession isn't that important so why don't we take the opportunity to improve our management gender status", could be a cynical explanation. But it still doesn't explain why only young females enroll the college classes.

Posted by: Hans Eric Melin | 16 March 2005 at 06:58 AM

I've been a journo for 10 years, working in Australia and the UK. I could count on one hand the number of male PRs I've had dealings with. They are, indeed, a rare breed.

Posted by: kimbofo | 16 March 2005 at 09:16 AM

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