WHAT WE DO
At Women in PR, supporting gender balance in the boardroom and nurturing future female talent and the next generation of women leaders in the PR industry, is part of our core purpose. That’s why we run the PR Week Mentoring programme and participated in the UK Government gender pay consultation with the PRCA and PR Week.
PR Week Mentoring Project
#PRWeekMentoring
Women in PR is PR Week’s official partner in delivering the PR Week Mentoring Project where 15 promising, mid-career, female communications professionals are paired up with 15 mentors in senior leadership roles.
The last PRCA Census in 2013 found that 63% of the UK PR industry is female, yet 29% of men working in PR are directors vs 13% of women. So the scheme was set up to encourage more female leaders in the communications industry.
Mentee/mentor
The 15 female PR professionals chosen to be mentees as part of the PRWeek Mentoring Project are:
- Tash Carpenter, head of communications, Premiership Rugby
- Addy Frederick, senior corporate comms manager, BUPA
- Grace Garland, head of PR & communications, MVF
- Anna Geffert, associate partner, Instinctif Partners
- Jo Hooper, head of corporate affairs, Which?
- Vicki Harding, managing partner, Iris Culture
- Felicity Hudson, associate director, Hotwire
- Anastasia Ivanova, senior account director, Ketchum
- Aimee Jacobs, associate director, Ready10
- Zoe Melarkey, head of PR, nPower
- Paula Pohja-Hutchinson, director, MHP Communications
- Rachel Ruxton, head of communications, People’s Postcode Lottery
- Lesley Singleton, MD, Playtime PR
- Ellie St George-Yorke, account director, Acceleris
- Anna Younger, head of innovation, Instinctif Partners
Gender Pay Gap Consultation
#prpaygap
In 2015, three pay gap surveys carried out across the UK PR industry in 2015 found that at every level, men are paid more than women in equivalent positions, both in terms of basic salary and bonuses. This trend only intensifies the higher up the industry you go.
The CIPR State of the Profession survey found the mean salary for a male PR practitioner is £56,840, dropping to £44,450 for females – meaning the average PR salary for men is a worrying 28% higher than for women.
In partnership with the PRCA and PR Week, Women in PR undertook a gender pay consultation with the UK PR industry. This was in response to Prime Minister David Cameron’s announcement in July 2015 that he wants to close the gender pay pap within a generation.
More than 550 people, including 80 agency heads, completed the survey. The survey results showed a groundswell of support for voluntary reporting of gender pay discrepancies by agencies of all sizes, together with a pledge by industry leaders to tackle the issue head on.
The survey results can be found here and an analysis of the results and industry reaction can be found here.
“What a fab #PRWeekmentoring gathering! @WIPRUK @PRWeek thanks to Hotel Cafe Royal – the ideal venue for #womeninPR”
Christine Johnson, partner, Bell Pottinger
“Loved tonight’s debate and meeting so many inspirational @wipruk and @wij_uk members”
Wyldfire PR
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