80 Cents to $1

The Public Relations industry is growing fast. Last year, Ragan.com reported that 73% of PR practitioners were females.  Despite the majority of the industry being women, women are still experiencing a smaller salary than men. In 2007, PRSA found that men were making an average of $93, 494 compared to women, who made only $66,467 for the same jobs.

Wednesday, an op-ed came out in the NY times called “Girls and Boys Together” that discussed this issue. According to the article, women still only make 80 cents for every $1 a male makes. You would think that, 40 years after a feminist movement, this problem would be corrected. Obviously, it’s not.

What exactly is PRSA doing to fix this problem? According to them, they have a committee, called Work Life and Gender, which “explores various issues concerning the industry’s income discrepancy and how PRSA can address those issues.” The organization claims that the way professionals determine pay is through people’s years of experience.

What’s worse, studies show that young, childless women make more than men but once they get married and have children, their salaries decrease. Doesn’t sound like professional experience to me. So how exactly can women, like myself who are going into PR, do to fix this problem?

We’ve discussed in a lot of my classes that men ask for higher salaries. Women need to take an initiative, and do the same. We can have just as much experience and work just as hard, but, unfortunately, we need to prove ourselves more. Luckily, knowledge is power and letting women who are entering the Public Relations world know that the “glass ceiling” still exists, might allow the problem to be solved.

It will be interesting to see what PRSA does to correct this problem in the next couple of years. I just hope that businesses learn that experience is more important than gender.