Towards a New Understanding of Masculine Habitus and Women and Leadership in Public Relations

This edited volume analyses leadership in the public relations (PR) industry with a specific focus on women and their leadership styles. It looks at how women lead, the inf luence of the socialisation process on leadership styles, the difference between feminine and masculine leadership styles, and the impact of leadership style on career opportunities for women. The book features case studies exploring leadership in PR around the world in an attempt to answer a central research question: is there a masculine habitus in the PR industry despite the rise of women in PR? The authors of each chapter conducted original research on women working in PR within their own country and provide original insights into the position of women in a feminised industry, as well as proposing new and original theoretical frameworks for future research. Written for scholars, researchers and students of PR and communication, this book will also be of interest to those studying gender studies, leadership and organisational analysis, and sociology.

1 Introduction: Is It a One Big Habitus? SECTION I Women and Leadership in Public Relations: A Synthesis of Existing Research and the Way Forward 2 From Public Relations Management to Leadership: A Critical Turn 3 Women and Leadership in Public Relations and Communication Management: Developing a Rhizomatic Typology of Knowledge and Professional Development as an Ecological Radical Feminine Perspective SECTION II Something Old is New Again – Women and Leadership in Public Relations from West to East 4 Barriers to Leadership Advancement in an Age of Turbulence: Perspectives from Women in PR in the United States 5 Who takes the Blame? Factors of the Perpetuation of the Glass Ceiling in Public Relations and Strategic Communication in Latin America 6 "I have found with women I have had some really good female bosses, but a lot of them can get quite bitchy": Leadership Styles, Socialisation and Blokishness in Public Relations Industry in England 7 Women and Leadership in Public Relations in Greece 8 Career Development and Leadership Opportunities in Public Relations from Georgian Perspective 9 Women’s Leadership in the Public Relations Profession: Attitudes, Opinions and Communication Styles 10 Women Public Relations Leaders’ Perception of a Gendered Profession 11 Investigating Women as Public Relations Leaders in Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia SECTION III The Women’s Leadership in Public Relations: Case Studies of Inspirational Women’s Leadership in Public Relations 12 A Public Relations "Woman of Valor" Belle Moskowitz as a Strategist for Social and Political Change 13 Excellent Academic and Research Leadership from South Africa 14 ‘She’s Played a Blinder’: Nicola Sturgeon as a Crisis Leader and Change Agent in Scotland SECTION IV Critical and Post-feminist Perspectives 15 "It’s Trivial, Bitchy and Dull" – Why Women Leave Public Relations and How They Renegotiate Their Identities 16 The Black Swans of Public Relations: Folk Theory, Female Entrepreneurship, and Post-Feminism

Martina Topic is a Reader at Leeds Beckett University, UK. She was project lead for the British Academy funded project on Women in UK’s Advertising Industry, HEFCE-funded project on Women in British Journalism, HEFCE-funded projects on Women in PR and research-based teaching and student satisfaction. She currently leads the EUPRERA research network on women in public relations (previously a project lead, 2018–2021) and she is a research lead for the #WECAN project (Women Empowered through Coaching and Networking), funded by the European Social Fund and Department of Work and Pensions. She is an editor of the section Culture, Media and Film of Cogent Arts and Humanities Open Access journal (Taylor and Francis), editor-in-chief of Corporate Communications: An International Journal, editor-in-chief of Northern Lights: Film & Media Yearbook and editor-in-chief of the book series ‘Women, Economics and the Labour Relations’. Martina is the author of Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Affairs in the British Press: An Ecofeminist Critique of Neoliberalism (Routledge, 2021).