Girls.
In the public relations industry women make up nearly 85 percent of the workforce. The New York Magazine article “Why Do We Treat PR Like a Pink Ghetto” examines the work thousands of young women are doing, that many others label as ‘fluff.’
Publicists are often made fun of for a lack of intelligence, when actually the complete opposite is more accurate. Public relations is a need for any organization, individual or industry, therefore PR pros know a little bit about a lot – and what they don’t know, they’re quick to research. An invisible trade, PR is noticed when it goes bad, but little regard is taken to the hard work when a coveted placement is earned or event pulled off.
Back to the first point, there aren’t many men in public relations. Do they not see the role as tough-enough? Are there gender stereotypes in the profession? Do women in PR have a barrier to overcome seeing as the industry is not gender-diverse?
I would say yes to all.
Labeled as ‘fluff’ here are some of the accomplishments PR girls (and guys) accomplish daily:
- Top-tier (that means Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, NBC, ABC and more) placements for clients
- An understanding of news – beyond just theSkimm, we know headlines relevant to the world
- Juggling hundreds of emails regarding numerous clients
If you’re looking for a good read, don’t forget this article. While you’re at it, read more about women juggling careers here and the future of public relations here.
CITY GIRL HANNA 
A huge huge huge problem is the fact that PR is difficult to monetize and measure. Think of all the traditionally “male” careers – software development, finance, consulting, etc. They’re focused on the hard-and-fast: How much profit can I make? Can you model all of my future income streams in an Excel spreadsheet? Can you explain using a regression model the risks associated with starting a new PR campaign?
Yes, there are ways to assign metrics to PR, but the industry as a whole is filled with 1) old habits that are difficult to change, and 2) lots and lots of liberal-arts-educated females who frankly don’t have the focus or the training to be able to do heavy quantitative analysis that executives need. Thus, the equivalent of a “fluff” career.