CAN OF WORMS

As I sift through the archives of this blog, there seems to be one glaring question at the root of many, many posts:

Why aren't there more women in advertising?

There are variations such as, "Why are there more guys than gals in advertising," or "Why don't more women get hired into the industry?" It's all the same.

It's a good question.
More of a riddle really.

Here are some stabs at an answer, pulled from the Boards Questioning the Status Quo panel, posted here on Sept. 27, 2006:

While Janet Kestin stuck her neck out to firmly state “I think fewer [women] are getting hired in the first place, and I don’t think it has to do with the portfolios. It’s a case of like hiring like. Odds are stacked against [women] because there are fewer women doing the hiring.”

Nancy Axthelm offered that there’s a possibility “people are compartmentalized and then foster and  create like-minded people.” Perhaps this is not an issue of who’s to blame, but how to change the silo-ing.

Ethel Rubinstein added that “as far as agencies go, I think until they realize they aren’t getting the best talent – if & when it becomes in their self-interest – then they’ll start taking notice.” 

Rubinstein's quote stings a bit. "Until they realize they aren't getting the best talent..." Let's talk about that later.

The question remains: Why aren't there more women in advertising?

Let's clarify a bit.

There seems to be plenty of women in advertising.
In some agencies, there are even more women than men.
More in design.
More in account.
More in traffic.
More in planning.
More in print production.
More in production.

Less in the creative department.

Ahhh.

Instead of "Why aren't there more women in advertising," the actual question is "Why aren't there more women in the creative department?"

It could be like hiring like, as Kestin points out.

Can it be boiled down to one answer, where a gender is clearly hiring against the other gender based only on gender?

I hope not.

It seems odd though.
That if a CD were presented with equal caliber books, one a man's and one a woman's, the CD would hire based on gender? As in, I'm a man so I'll hire this guy because I'm comfortable talking to him about sports and big blocks. Or, I'm a woman so I'll hire the woman to give her a chance in the industry.

Maybe this is a question directed more towards the CD's that do the hiring.

I'll follow it up with this one:
Does your agency receive equal number of books from men and women?

Perhaps it is still a boy's club.
Who knows.

But if hiring really has nothing to do with a person's book or character, then damn.

Comments

[old ironsides]

Thirty days and no comments.
Not even a thought.
Which leads me to think, a.) the post was so riddled with holes and poor insight that no one bothered to answer, let alone comment, and b.) there must be another community where such topics are openly discussed. Like 3iying.com. Err, or not.

I'd like to know the context of Rubinstein's quote (above) pulled from the Boards Questioning the Status Quo panel, posted here on Sept. 27, 2006. Anyone?

[rainy]

yo lauren - just stumbled upon this in a(nother) fit of insomnia. lovely to see that you're a part of something.

actually a thought that's been circulating around my agency recently. there used to be some seriously great female creatives around my agency. it used to be that the ones that're still there were doing cool work. it used to be anybody's game. but it's lately become a boy's club. and it's not helping that the occasional female creative gets all petty and makes everybody's life around her miserable. and the work's starting to suffer. and it's showing...

i'm waiting for the day that, as rubenstein said, they sit up and take notice.

[Dabitch]

I don't pretend to know why there are fewer women in Creative Departments. Back when I studied fewer women were in school to become creatives, eight copywriters in training and only two art directors in total (600 students applied, 35 made it in, only twenty survived until graduation day - two female art directors included). So, back then it was likely not a 50-50 male/female ratio on portfolios entering the junior ad positions. These days the schools are filled up 50-50 males to females, so why aren't the creative departments? I've seen it change actually, more females now than before - it's just that few women age well in the business, and by that I mean they might begin at an agency but I seldom see women over 35 at agencies. Some figure that women, who more often than men, choose the freelancing route because this affords them a real life as well as a career. I did not choose freelancing as much as it choose me, and I know plenty of men in the same place. So I don't know. That's all.

[Morgan]

I'm a 21 year old female, getting ready to graduate from the University of Kansas/William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications with a bachelor's degree in Journalism.

The female/male ratio in my school is staggering. My field is strategic communications (aka marketing, advertising and PR). It is obviously becoming a woman's field. I can't say how many of them will become copywriters or ad directors, but I'm willing to bet that at least a few will try.

As a side note, I'm going on an interview today for a position as a copywriter intern at Sullivan Higdon & Sink. I'm hoping that the trends will sway in our favor, because writing and creativity is my passion. I plan to stick around for as long as they'll let me!

[Wang]

Hi,

I just stumbled onto your site. It's fanfuckingtastic!

I'm interning as a copywriter at a great creative agency and I've asked this question a lot. A LOT.

Some of the (few)female creatives told me that they haven't noticed...WTF? They haven't noticed that it's like a goddamn boy's locker room?

A big issue is a lack of mentors.
Nobody wants to/has time to be a mentor, many of the girls have been discouraged, ignored, and passed by.

I'm naturally a quiet person unless I know you. At work, to get your work noticed it seems that you have to be aggressive and fight back with the CD. Anyway, I'm not trying to generalize that women are by nature more passive or any BS like that...but it seems like without encouragement there is a lot of female talent going to waste. IMHO.