The friendliness trap

Stereotypically seen as good communicators, women still face a second corporate glass ceiling    

 
Public relations is considered a ‘feminised’ profession: since the share of women in public relations education is by far higher than the share of women in the professional field itself, the feminisation of public relations is still an ongoing trend which will lead to an even higher proportion of women in the near future. However, female professional careers still differ strongly from male ones. The most striking gender-related difference is that women in public relations still have more difficulties in developing their career as quickly and successfully as their male colleagues. Thus, it does not actually help that women dominate the profession: the glass ceiling effect still exists for women in communications.

Romy Fröhlich

Romy Fröhlich is a professor for communication science and media research at Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich. She is a former president of the German Communication Association (DGPuK) and former head of the German Public Relations Association’s (DPRG) Commission for Education in Public Relations. She is a member of IAMCR, AEJMC and ICA.