TALK SHOW WITH TSAMWAI NYEMBAIf you’ve ever been involved with public relations (PR) & communication, you’ll quickly notice that the industry is filled with women Nearly 80% of the public relations industry today is comprised of ladies And it’s not even just the work force that is run by the girls My time studying public relations in university was spent side by side with students who were, by a majority, women
Is it just the industry that appeals to females or could it be that women are better equipped for a position where effective communication and strategy skills are necessary According to a study done by Open Forum, the growth of firms led by women have been more successful than their male counterparts by growing at almost double the rate In the last 20 years or so, there has been a growing influx of women in the PR & communication industry This domain has emerged as one of the most sought after by women
Reports state that almost 30% of the PR & communication enterprises have a woman CEO and approximately 72% of the PR & Communication practitioners are women It was also suggested in the study that women-owned firms tend to achieve greater success as they are successfully known to record double growth rate As the world of PR & communication is increasingly becoming more female focussed, it has been seen that young women are handling multiple jobs such as sending out emails, tweeting responses, calling cold contacts and more All these years, PR & communication has gained its reputation as a female-friendly industry
To a large extent, the media has been responsible for the successful portrayal of women in the world of PR with the “coolest” jobs ever Since the 1980s, every notable fictional publicist has been a sharp-tongued, neon-heel flaunting, salad-eating woman There’s no denying that this development is encouraging and lures a higher number of business-savvy women, but the issue concerning gender disparity continues to remain In this study, we will throw light on some of the reasons why women’s dominance is evident in this industry on what makes females such effective leaders, especially in the PR & Communication industry
There are several reasons:
Believe it or not, women are more empathetic as compared to men, making them great listeners and understanding of the needs of others Women also have the natural ability to connect on a deeper level Moreover, they are better attuned to the customer’s requirements, ensuring satisfying relationships Gender differences exist, and scientists are still discovering more disparities
Besides the obvious physical differences in size, shape and strength, men and women often react differently to medications Women also have better night vision and better visual memory, while men have better distance vision and depth perception Gender differences have also been studied in the act of listening According to Larry Barker and Kittie Watson, authors of the book Listen Up, men and women typically employ different listening styles
Men are more likely to be action-oriented listeners, which means they focus on listening to information pertinent to the task at hand Action-oriented listeners have little patience for speakers who ramble off topic or include unnecessary details Women are more likely to be people-oriented listeners They connect with the emotional message and undertones of a conversation and are more concerned with the occurrence of the conversation than with the pertinent information discussed
Men and women can listen equally well In general, females tend to be more empathetic than males This gives them the upper-hand when understanding the needs of others and knowing when it’s time to listen Women can more quickly connect on a deeper level
This enables us to be attuned to a client’s needs, creating the environment for a satisfying, long-term relationship It is more likely that women will be up-to-date with the news and be able to apply it to clients and other workplace issues Women consistently show up men in spatial memory and multitasking This allows females to check the news, answer an email and problem solve
This also makes females effective at brainstorming strategising solutions Women are more updated with the latest happenings and better equipped to meet customer needs Their natural ability to multitask makes them better PR & communication practitioners as compared to men Productivity studies show that women are better at juggling innumerable tasks such as household work, check news, answer emails and solve problems efficiently
At varied instances, females have also proven to be more efficient at brainstorming for solutions as compared to their male counterparts Source: The Standard Zimbabwe
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Source: Thestandard
