PR Women with Influence: Breaking Through the Ethical and Leadership Challenges

PR Women with Influence: Breaking Through the Ethical and Leadership Challenges makes a unique and timely contribution by exploring how women in public relations navigate through attitudinal, structural and social barriers in advancing their leadership roles. The book is thoroughly grounded in rich empirical evidence gained through two phases of a funded research project conducted in the field. Phase I involves 51 in-depth interviews with current female leaders in public relations and Phase II captures women’s perceptions on gender-related barriers in leadership advancement by recruiting a national panel of female public relations professionals.

Results presented in this book provide a compelling, current picture of women and leadership in public relations. By emphasizing our discussion on key issues and barriers as related to women in PR and their leadership advancement, the authors call for real actions and change to develop a constructive ecosystem within the organization to embrace leadership for women in PR.

Given its sharp topic focus, wealth of empirical data, and the relevance of the topic to today’s public relations profession, this book is suitable for different audiences both nationally and globally. Such audiences include but are not limited to public relations scholars, educators and professionals, both leaders and emerging leaders, men and women, young professionals, women of color, and public relations majors. This book is appropriate for senior-level undergraduate and graduate courses in public relations and communication management to facilitate critical thinking, leadership development, and gender-related topic discussion.

Juan Meng, PhD, is an associate professor and founding director of Go Global Choose China and the Cooperative Education programs at the University of Georgia. Meng serves on the national board of advisors of The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations and is an elected member of the Arthur W. Page Society.

Marlene S. Neill, PhD, APR, is an associate professor and graduate program director at Baylor University and teaches courses in advertising and public relations. Her research interests include public relations management and ethics. Neill worked for almost 12 years in government and nonprofit public relations.