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

Public Relations Review 39 (2013) 156–165

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Public Relations Review

Career experiences of women in British public relations

(1970–1989)

Heather M.L. Yaxley∗

The Media School, Bournemouth University, UK

a r t i c l e i n f o

Keywords:

Public relations

Women

Britain 1970s, 1980s

Careers

Agentic self-efficacy

Change agent

Personal agency

a b s t r a c t

This study foregrounds career experiences of women working in public relations in Britain

during the 1970s and 1980s, a time when female employmentin the field increased tenfold.

Descriptive oral history interviews with seven women identified a post-facto connection

with initial opportunistic experiences of public relations described universally as ‘exciting’.

Despite a lack of purposeful career direction, interviewees evidenced agentic self-efficacy,

not typically expected from women. Male and female role models acted as proxy agents

influencing career advancement, however, the women did not act as change agents for

younger female practitioners; indeed they were critical of subsequent generations.

© 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

This paper aims to contribute towards historical knowledge of public relations by exploring the career experiences of

women working in the field in Britain during a time when female employment in the field underwent notable growth.

Histories of public relations have largely omitted female experiences (Cutlip, 1994; Creedon, 2004), with research into their

historical role focused on the U.S. (Gower, 2001; Horsley, 2009; O’Neil, 1999; Patterson, 2009) including biographies of a

few prominent women (Henry, 1998, 2012; Martinelli & Toth, 2010; Miller, 1997). One of these, Fleischman (1928) noted,

in respect of careers in public relations, the “ultimate possibilities for women lie in the future” (p. 385). This prediction

came true, as evidenced by the “trend towards women’s greater representation in public relations” “that began early in the

post-World War II period” (Donato, 1990, p. 129). However, L’Etang (2006) states, “trying to recapture something of the

her-story of public relations in Britain is a challenge” (p. 162).

The development of public relations in Britain was largely unstudied until L’Etang’s extensive consideration of its pro￾fessionalisation in 2004. She observed public relations in Britain was a patriarchal industry in the 1940s and 1950s where

women tended to be excluded from “fast career progression” (L’Etang, 2006, p. 163). Traditionally women were not expected

to follow a career path, until social changes emerging in the 1970s encouraged greater life choices (Gallos, 1989). Summerfield

(1994) cites data showing women accounted for one-third of those in employment in the U.K. in 1961, increasing to two￾fifths by 1981; primarily accounted for by married women undertaking part-time work in low paid occupations. This reflects

a view that “historically working women have jobs rather than careers” (Obelkevich & Catterall, 1994, p. 3).

Within British public relations, surveys undertaken by the Institute of Public Relations (IPR) suggest women’s presence

was considerably below this level, accounting for 12% of membership in 1975 and 20.8% by 1987. Within a growing field,

the number of female practitioners increased from around 400 to at least 4000 during the 1970s and 1980s. Today, women

∗ Corresponding author at: The Media School, Bournemouth University, Weymouth House, Talbot Campus, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB, UK.

Tel.: +44 1722 711295.

E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected]

0363-8111/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2013.03.009