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This study is based on 21 interviews with women working in the public relations industry in Croatia.Qualitative interviews were conducted with eight managers and 13 employees without managerial responsibilities to explore lived experiences of women working in public relations, as well as the office culture and socialisation and leadership. The average age of employees is 36 and of managers 43, 5. Five employees work in-house, three employees work in a PR agency, two in high education, one is a civil servant, one works in Croatian PR professional association, and one employee works in the delegation. Four managers work in a PR agency and four in-house. Although the PR industry in Croatia is dominated by female employees (76, 84%) in the so-called masculine patterns still prevail in the sector. Results show that women in the Croatian PR industry have long working hours, weighted work-life balance and difficult and unequal career progression opportunities. Women are often exposed to direct or indirect gender discrimination (sexist comments and practices, they need to behave differently to be taken seriously). However, some improvements are visible because some elements of office culture (dress code, banter) is not so patriarchal and gender-biased as before. Majority of participants, on the other hand, still report exclusion from the important business decisions. The research confirmed that women who spent more time with fathers and blokish mothers internalised so-called masculine leadership patterns and have direct communication style whilst women who spent more time with mothers or with both mothers and fathers equally internalised so-called feminine leadership patterns and their communication is a combination of so-called masculine and feminine communication styles. All participants claim that the combination of what is usually perceived as masculine and feminine characteristics are needed for an effective leader. Research also showed that the majority of participants do not recognize women in senior positions as role models. The research confirmed the deep-rooted patriarchal gender stereotypes about the so-called female and male characteristics, in particular on the desirability of some of the characteristics specific to gender roles. |
