The Velvet Ghetto

Well,

This looks like it's going to be the last post for the Fall semester. I have really enjoyed this maiden voyage into blogging and I plan on continuing my blogging endeavors.

I had planned on blogging about the current situation for women in Somalia, since the media currently only pays attention to the piracy issues there, but it looks like I will save that for my post-semester post. In this last post, I want to focus on integrating my current learning in Women's Studies with my education in PR.

Yesterday, I was talking to my Writing for Public Relations professor about women in PR and where the industry is going. I told her about my Women's Studies course and my concerns for the future of women communicators. She told me about the Velvet Ghetto, defined as a field in which women experience drops in salary and status, and said she would really like to see more students write about it. She wondered why women don’t hold those top management positions. Was it there own personal choices, sexism, or a combination of both. It corresponds really well with the issues of the glass ceilings and feminization of the American Workforce.

Currently, the Advertising/Public Relations student body is 8 females to every male and the workforce is 80 percent women and 20 percent men; yet only 20 percent of women hold management positions and the other 80 percent are obviously held by men. How and why is this? This is the Velvet Ghetto phenomenon.

This was originally written about in 1986 when the profession was shifting from predominantly male to female. It stated that over a professional lifetime in PR, men will “earn” a bonus of more than a million dollars in respect to their female counterparts, just for being a man. It also discussed the “Queen Bee” situation, where women who are successful in an industry think that all women have been given the opportunity for success within that company, just like them. The report hypothesized the following things:

1. The feminization of PR will cause career stereotypes. For example, nursing is a stereotypical “female” profession and thus make it a less desirable job to a large part of the population.
2. The stereotypes will lead to a decrease in pay. “Feminine” jobs are usually considered negligible, thus making it a low priority in corporate hierarchy.
3. What can be done about this? Improving the standards within the profession will improve the status; work with current students concerning this issue, and increase awareness of this issue.

Remember the above is from 1986, but it is obvious that the fear of feminization was a form of propaganda used in industries to keep the powers that be in place.

Eighteen years later, in 2003, the study was re-evaluated in “The Velvet Ghetto, Times Have Changed?” with current research and within the context of the current 80/20 situation.

The results are as follows:

1. Women have grown 8 percent in the Ad/Pr workforce and are currently declining by half a percent per year.
2. Salaries have not decreased for women or men, but women still only make $.73 for every dollar men make in the profession.
3. Direct access to CEO has decreased by 30 percent and reporting directly to the CEO has declined by 15 percent.
4. PR professionals wage has grown by 3.1 percent over the past 18 years as opposed to the male-dominated management consultant industry which only grew .6 percent.
RESULT: “It appears the prediction that the feminization of the field would have a negative impact on salaries has not come to pass.”
The solutions in this newer article are the same as in the original.
*Continually demonstrate the effectiveness of communication to the bottom line.
* Maintain continuing education programs.
* Lobby for a seat at the management table and as part of the management team.
I was happy to learn that the PR industry was open-minded and egalitarian. My personal experiences within the industry have been positive and I really feel that discussing the feminization myths will help eliminate the irrational fears of women in any given industry. Attached are the links to both the original and the revisited “Velvet Ghetto” articles. Happy Winter Breaking.

"Velvet Ghetto"
http://www.iabc.com/rf/pdf/VelvetGhetto.pdf

"Velvet Ghetto Revisited"
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4422/is_2_20/ai_99290703/pg_2?tag=artBody;col1