Diversity and Representation

Women Miss Out On Top Advertising Jobs

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/jan/25/marketingandpr.advertising

The glass ceiling in the advertising industry is as strong as ever, according to a new study that claims while there are plenty of women working in the sector there is a dearth of females in top jobs.

Women continue to make up approximately half of the workforce but account for only 15.1% of managing directors or chief executives, according to a survey by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising survey of the media buying, advertising and marketing communications sectors.

The percentage of women at the top has more than doubled from 7% in 1998, but increased by only one percentage point since 2004. At a broader management level female representation in the industry was 26.8%.

Women in advertising became a hot issue last year when WPP senior creative Neil French was forced to resign after reportedly saying there were so few in senior roles because they were "crap".

Mr French's remarks caused a storm of protest and forced the WPP chief executive, Sir Martin Sorrell, to apologise.

Jim Marshall, the chairman of Starcom MediaVest UK and the IPA Media Futures Group, said the IPA survey showed the industry was changing too slowly.

"Overall it is good news that the industry was in growth mode during 2005, albeit cautiously. The growth is encouraging, as is the broadening of the industry, with more females in senior positions and greater ethnic diversity, although this could be at a faster rate," he said.

The IPA survey reveals that 15,751 people worked in advertising last year, up from 15,190 in 2004.

People working in the advertising and marketing communications industry were likely to under 30, Londoners and "overwhelmingly white", it concludes.

The IPA study found 93.2% of advertising and marketing employees were of white origin, 2.4% Asian, 2.4% black, 1% mixed origin and 1.1% from other backgrounds. The non-white figure of 6.8% compared with 5.1% in 2004 and 6.2% in 2003.

London is increasing its stranglehold on the industry; the survey showed the size of agencies in the capital increased while their regional counterparts got smaller.

The study found 75.5% of the industry's employees worked in London. And the average agency headcount in London increased from 82.8 in 2004 to 87.5 last year, while the average size of regional agencies fell from 41.4 to 37.6 employees.

Advertising and marketing industry workers were 33.4 years old on average, with 48.1% of the workforce under the age of 30.