With International Women’s Day having just passed, we thought there was no better time to celebrate the females in our field and shed a light on why it is so important to have more women in public affairs. At Murray McIntosh, we are an equal opportunities business and everyone we hire - both for ourselves and our clients – is recruited solely based on merit and skills.

As experts in public affairs recruitment, we know that the industry is crying out for top talent in a highly competitive and candidate-driven market. In this environment, potentially excluding around half of the population simply isn’t viable. But too few women are progressing in roles in the profession as they should. So, what’s holding females back?

Creating an equal opportunities landscape

Forum for females, Women in Public Affairs, recently launched three industry pledges to support women working in both agency and in-house public affairs roles. The pledges are being recommended following a 2019 survey which showed that 1 in 4 (27%) women have experienced sexual harassment at work and that nearly two-thirds (60%) of females in the sector feel their company is not transparent about progression and pay. These pledges include:

1) Publish Pay Bands

2) No more all-male panels

3) Publish sexual harassment policies and point of contact

Pay Bands

Data is continually showing that a lack of transparency on pay disproportionately disadvantages women in comparison to their male counterparts. The annual Women in Public Affairs (WiPA) survey, led by research agency Opinium, concluded that 9 in 10 (87%) women in Public Affairs are less likely to respond to a job advertisement if it doesn’t show the salary. Dejectedly, with only 26% of companies publishing salaries, this means that three-quarters of the industry are potentially missing out on top tier female talent, and likely further prolonging the gender gap in the industry, albeit inadvertently.

Further data from the survey shows that 35% of women believe pay differs for men and women at the same level in their business, with this number rising to over 40% in larger companies with 50+ employees. Publishing the salary in job adverts gives female applicants the reassurance that they are on equal footings as their male counterparts when applying for a role and should form part of any hiring strategy.

As Laura Sainsbury, Chair of Women in Public Affairs, explained in the WiPA report: “The new industry-backed pledges aim to raise industry standards and address some of the issues raised in our survey last year. We hope that as many businesses as possible support us in driving positive behaviour and shining a line on best practices across the industry. We will review the pledges and business uptake in six months, and will continue to work with senior leaders to drive women empowerment in the workplace.”

All Male Panels

Within the survey, WiPA also asked all public affairs professionals to commit to not appearing on or holding events involving all-male panels. To follow on from this, 58% of those surveyed said they have experienced discrimination at work, most commonly based on their gender or age.

This barrier on all male representation should extend to job interview panels as much as events. For new applicants, a lack of diversity of interviewers will bring into question the inclusive practices of the firm and from a more practical standpoint, a lack of diversity in groups of hiring decision makers has the potential to inadvertently create unconscious biases.

Sexual harassment policies and point of contact

A mere 4% of survey respondents in the WiPA study rated the industry as good at protecting and helping women deal with sexual harassment within the workplace. As a starting point, it is vitally important that companies ensure signposts to sexual harassment internal policies and support services is completely transparent. Only 13% of those surveyed think the industry is good at helping women progress, with half feeling they face greater barriers than men.

Despite the negative connotations surrounding a lack of transparency, diversity and inclusion towards women in the workplace, though, there are some more positive moves being made to empower females across a range of specialisms. For example, ‘The Women in Fintech Powerlist 2021’ which shines a light on the females leading innovation in financial services.

Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance commented, “We want the Powerlist to serve as a tool for inspiring the next generation of female leaders. While we are only able to profile a small number of outstanding women on this list, we hope it serves as a testament and a tribute to all the incredible females that are changing the world every day. There is so much more to be done in terms in terms of creating a more diverse and equal sector and society, but today let’s celebrate the great achievement that we have made so far, and continue to drive forward even greater change.”

For the Public Affairs field, we need to see wider recognition similar to this Powerlist to celebrate women in the sector and encourage others to progress their career.

For us here at Murray McIntosh, not only is it important to celebrate the women in our own workplace but also support and celebrate the women working in the various sectors we service. We are committed to diversity and inclusion and we work with our network to ensure that this focus is embedded across each assignment we undertake.

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