ICA-15-10506
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Introduction
According to Aldoory and Toth (2002), 70% of public relations practitioners are
female. In addition, between 70 and 80% of the students studying public relations in
college are female (Cline, 1989; Grunig, Toth & Hon, 2000). However, despite the
majority numbers of women in the field, the majority of management positions in public
relations are held by men (Aldoory & Toth, 2002). Female practitioners continue to hold
technician positions earning lower salaries, while male public relations professionals are
favored when it comes to hiring, salaries and promotions (Aldoory & Toth, 2002). Such
trends have lead researchers to suggest that the feminization of public relations leads not
only to the devaluation of women in public relations, but also to the marginalization of
the of the field itself (Aldoory & Toth, 2002; Toth & Grunig, 1993; Hon, 1995). Choi
and Hon (2002) suggest that a small increase in the number of women in powerful
positions might help to change the stereotypes that exist.
Since it is evident that women have yet to attain fair representation within the
public relations workforce, have they successfully attained fair representation in
education? Grunig, Toth, and Hon (2000) suggest that the classroom is an appropriate
setting for studying the implications of feminization on the field, and go so far as to
suggest that the empowerment of women through education will lead the field to
excellence. This study intends to be a start in this direction by examining how well
women are represented in introductory public relations textbooks.
Convention