My recent online discussion about gender bias in certain areas of work continues to resonate. After Larry Sumners comments about women in science in the US, advertising executive Neil French has added fuel to the fire in the UK by discussing the position of women in marketing and advertising jobs.. At a recent private dinner, he referred to female advertising executive in very derogatory terms. He also said that women didn’t deserve to make it to the top because of their tendency to 'wimp out and go and suckle something'.
For these type of comments to be made in the year 2005 seems incredible. Yet research shows that although 80 per cent of all purchasing decisions in Britain are made by women, men hold 83 per cent of the creative marketing and advertising jobs. For women in marketing and advertising jobs, the industry in the UK is actually moving backwards.
This is not because of a shortage of creative and visionary women. It is simply that the advertising industry remains overwhelmingly male. Rita Clifton is one of only a handful of women in the UK who buck the trend in terms of advertising jobs. She points out that women are generally capable of greater empathy - an important part of advertising, and yet they are still very much sidelined in advertising jobs.
Marketing and advertising are fascinating subjects. Years after leaving marketing, I still find myself fascinated by publicity and advertising campaigns. What I find astonishing is that, in this brave new world of online degrees and so-called flexible working, there can still be such a gender bias in the UK advertising industry. I would appreciate some feedback from readers in the US.
Source: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,6903,1598649,00.html
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